A Nationalist minister dropped a strong hint yesterday that the SNP administration will fulfil its pledge to improve the A9, after a weekend in which four people died in a crash on the Highland road.

Fergus Ewing, the Community Safety Minister and MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, said in a BBC Radio Scotland interview that his party would not ignore the needs of Highland communities.

“I am very confident that the announcement the Scottish government is making in the autumn will have good news,” Mr Ewing said.

His comments came as campaigners and opposition politicians called for immediate action to improve the safety of the A9.

Three adults and a toddler died in the collision near the Slochd summit north of Aviemore on Saturday. The crash is believed to have been caused by a pick-up truck that swerved across the Perth to Inverness road and crashed head-on with a foreign-registered car containing Dutch tourists, before bursting into flames.

The SNP promised to upgrade the trunk road, known as one of Scotland's notorious blackspots, to a dual carriageway in its election manifesto last year. Mr Ewing blamed the cost of delivering Edinburgh's trams network, which was ordered by the previous Labour-Lib Dem Executive, for delaying work to improve the road. He added: “It was party-political really that in the first eight years of devolution there were no major improvements to the A9. I can assure you, and I am extremely confident, that the SNP government will not repeat that neglect of the Highlands.”

Stewart Stevenson, the Scottish Transport Minister, later told BBC Radio Scotland that the Slochd stretch of the A9 was among several areas under consideration to become dual carriageway. Mr Stevenson is expected to make a detailed announcement on transport projects in the autumn.

The accident on the A9 contributed to a total of nine deaths on Scotland's roads last weekend.

Neil Greig, director of the IAM Motoring Trust said better junctions and opportunities for overtaking could help to prevent fatal crashes.

“We need to do more, particularly on the design of roads in rural areas, which are so unforgiving,” he said.

Mr Greig suggested that roads such as the A9 should adopt the three-lane system used in Norway and Sweden, comprised of a dual carriageway and a single lane.

A spokesman for the Scottish government said it was addressing the issue as “a matter of urgency”.

He added: “Since coming into government we have already seen improvements at key sections of the route. Further work to dual, to insert overtaking lanes and make junction improvements will take place over the next four years. Options for how best to complete the dualling of the A9 will emerge from the Strategic Transport Projects Review, which will report to ministers shortly.”

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