A83 Rest and be Thankful Open - Single Lane only

Friday, November 09 2007

On Sunday October 28 a long stretch of the A83 was shut after a landslide, which occured at the Rest and be Thankful road, west of Loch Lomond. A total of 400 tons of soil and rock, loosened by several months of rainfall, tumbled down onto the road early that morning. The A83 is the major route from Glasgow to Kintyre and the isles of Islay and Jura. A diversion is in operation since that time (see map). Coming from Glasgow follow the A82 over Crianlarich, take the A85 direction Oban and continue on the A819 to Inveraray just outside Dalmally. This diversion will add 35 miles to your journey and most like more than one hour due to congestion of the A82 or A819. Latest news is that the road, a single lane, will re-open on Saturday 10 November 0800 hrs but will face some further closures.

The Campbeltown Courier reported today about the Landslide and it looks like the works to secure the mountainside and cleaning up of the road can take longer than expected. A quote from the article: After only a fortnight haulage companies are counting the staggering costs of having to detour via Crianlarich and sometimes as far as Stirling; private motorists and bus passengers are having to contend with longer journeys on a congested A82 which is struggling to cope with bad weather and extra traffic. Hopes are pinned on an inspection of the hillside today and whatever decision Scotland TransServe makes to reopen, even if only single-track during daylight.

In the meanwhile the Ileach reports that there will be a staged re-opening from tomorrow morning onwards. A Quote from the Ileach: Weather conditions at the landslip site have been extremely poor with heavy rain showers and storm force winds. All the known geotechnical data available has been considered together with the complex engineering works carried out to date. Following discussions between Scotland TranServ and Transport Scotland and an assessment of risks it has been decided that a staged reopening of the road should be undertaken. The A83 will therefore be re-opened to single lane working, controlled by traffic lights from the hours of 0800 hrs Saturday 10th November until 0800 hrs Monday 12th November. The opening of the road is of course dependent on the risk of further material movement on the hillside remaining at its present level. ScotlandTranServ will maintain a 24 hour presence on site over the weekend. There remains further work regarding final removal of debris however this work is weather dependent and will require a further road closure of between 24 to 48 hours. It is intended to undertake this work at the earliest opportunity and forecasts indicate the weather window might be Monday 12th November/Tuesday 13th November. Thereafter the section of road directly affected by the landslip will remain under single lane working controlled by traffic lights and this traffic management will be in place for some time as further more permanent strengthening works are undertaken.

To stay up to date with progress and (re)opening of the road you can find more and up-to-date information on the BBC travel website.

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