Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said she understood there were frustrations around the dualling of the road.
“Any loss of a life on the A9, or indeed other roads in Scotland, is a tragedy in and of itself,” she said
“Road safety is something I take extremely seriously.”
She said the government was not just waiting for the dulling to take place, and had invested £5m in interim, shorter-term road safety issues on the A9.
“The dualling in and of itself will help on road safety and that’s one of the reasons that we’ve embarked on it,” she said.
Hyslop said circumstances beyond the Scottish government’s control had affected the project, including Brexit – the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union – and the Covid pandemic.
But she added: “We have a plan, we’re meeting our milestones.”