crappy road from Tarbert to the head of Loch Lomond...........

It may be a "crappy" road but it sure is a Beautiful drive!

The closures of the A83 planned for Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th November will NOT take place. The A83 will remain open with single lane working controlled by temporary traffic lights.

Motorists suffered chaos yesterday as high winds and rain swept across most of Scotland, just days after parts of the north-east of the country suffered extensive flooding. Flooding caused 10 mile long tailbacks for commuters on the M8 heading towards the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow and a landside closed much of the A83 following a landslide at the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot in Argyll.

Tonnes of mud slumped from the hillside onto the route yesterday lunchtime, causing chaos for motorists, for the second time in three years. Arrochar was virtually cut off from traffic for 10 miles between it and Cairndow as it was closed off. Vehicles travelling west were forced to follow diversions via Tarbet and eastbound traffic was diverted at Inverary. The area had been deluged by heavy rain for several days prior to the slip, but no one was injured and early reports of heavy vehicles becoming trapped in mud were dismissed by police and maintenance workers.

ONE of the west of Scotland's most important traffic routes will reopen today, road chiefs said. AN 11-mile stretch of the A83 was shut on Tuesday after more than 1,000 tonnes of rock and mud swept down the hillside at the Rest And Be Thankful, just west of Loch Lomond.

Motorists had a 55-mile detour as the road was shut in both directions between the A814 at Arrochar and the A815 turn-off near Cairndow in Argyll. Maintenance workers have removed the 1,070 tonnes of debris from the road and repaired the lower embankment with 250 tonnes of rockfill, while the blocked culvert and ditches have been cleared.

Safety measures are to be introduced on a stretch of road in Argyll which has been closed two times in recent years by landslides. Sensors will be installed along the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful to monitor the movement of the hillside. Fencing will also be put in around the road, near Arrochar, to protect the carriageway from falling debris.

The £760,000 programme of works will begin in January and is due to be completed by the summer. The first phase of work will see remote sensing equipment introduced to assist ongoing monitoring of movement of the hillside. Debris flow fencing will also be installed to help reduce the risk of future landslide material reaching the roadside.

One of Scotland’s best-known tourist routes and transport arteries has been blocked by the third landslide in three years, sparking calls from politicans for immediate Government action. The A83 near the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll reopened yesterday after it was shut on Monday evening following the incident, believed to have been caused by heavy rain. It raised concerns that local businesses, which rely on the route, would be damaged by the latest slide. Landslides blocked the road last year and in 2007.

Alan Reid, LibDem MP for Argyll, said: “Yet again we have had a landslide near the Rest and Be Thankful after a spell of heavy rain. When the A83 is closed, the journey time to reach many parts of Argyll and Bute is greatly increased. This obviously has a severe impact on local businesses. If this happened in the central belt, the Scottish Government would spend millions of pounds solving the problem. They must do the same for Argyll and Bute. It doesn’t matter how much it would cost, this road must be made safe and kept open at all times.”