Port Askaig Under Construction

A long time ago came a man on a track, walking thirty miles with a sack on his back. He puts down his load where he thought it was best and made a home in the wilderness. What has this song of Mark Knopfler (Telegraph Road) to do with Port Askaig you might wonder. Right, nothing.. although.... Mark Knopflers song is about the changing times, environments, places getting busier etc. And that is one of the reasons that Port Askaig's port and access roads are in the middle of a £11,066,000 expansion. It all started with the main road to Port Askaig. The road and parking place were too small and weren't built for the amount of traffic and HGV's climbing up the hill when they arrived at Port Askaig. Port Askaig, on the north-east coast of Islay is one of the two Ferry ports on Islay and the port for the Jura Ferry.

Phase one of this project, picture above, was to blast away a part of the mountain and create a new road and parking place. Stage two has started with mobile trailers and units springing up all over the place, they are most likely the setup team who are preparing the ground before the heavy work starts. As far as I am aware phase two is the extension of the north pier creating a new harbour for the fishing boats to tie up and land their catch which has been desperately needed for years. The other work, phase three, will be reshaping the existing harbour in front of the hotel so that the Jura ferry will not block the entrance to the harbour as is the case just now, allowing free access to the harbour when required. Phase one is substantially completed, phase two should be complete Sep 2007, and phase three should be complete June 2008.

For the financial wizards:
The final expected total cost of the project (phases 1,2,3) is feasibility and planning costs £283,000; Phase one current estimated cost £4,900,00; phase two current estimated cost £4,783,00; phase three current estimated cost £1,100,000; Total estimated costs £11,066,000; The funding has been sourced from, The public transport fund £3,750,000, ERDF £2,240,000, Marine grant (Scottish executive) £3,642,000, Hitrans £350,000 ( to be confirmed) Council capital programme £1,084,000.

On the pictures below the new road and parking place