In an apologetic letter to Highlands & Islands MSP Jamie McGrigor, one of the Scots Tories’ few bright sparks, Transport Minister Keith Brown reveals that a survey of geotechnical engineers of the affected hillside has revealed ‘substantial tension cracks’ and has indicated ‘a potential for a far larger landslip to occur’ on the A83 trunk road at Rest and Be Thankful.
In apologising for the ;disruption and inconvenience’ following the latest landslip in December 2011, Mr Brown also states that Transport Scotland will be considering the feasibility of a range of options ‘including the establishment of an emergency diversion route via an existing forestry haul road.’
Jamie McGrigor, who made urgent representations to the Minister on this subject on the 1st of December and who raised the closure with the First Minister at First Minister’s Question Time in the Scottish Parliament that week, says: ‘I am prepared to give a cautious welcome to the news that Transport Scotland will be looking at how the existing forestry haul route might be used as a diversion in the event of further closures; this is something I and my colleague Councillor Donald Kelly have, for some time now, been calling for.
‘The A83 is a key trunk road route which is absolutely critical to the economy of the whole of Argyll & Bute and especially Campbeltown and Kintyre and residents and businesses alike remain very worried that they will be affected by further closures caused by future landslips. Ministers and Transport Scotland need to do all in their power both to prevent further landslips and to ensure smooth contingency measures can be put in place if we face further problems.
‘I will be questioning the Transport Minister in more detail on this subject in Parliament at Question Time on January 19th. In the meantime I continue to urge constituents and businesses to give their backing to the Sign for the A83 petition being co-ordinated by Cllr Donald Kelly and others. It is vital that pressure is maintained on the Scottish Government to recognise the strategic importance of the A83.’
NOTE: Here is the letter from Transport Minister,Keith Brown in response to Jamie McGrigor MSP: Trasnport Minister to Jamie McGrigor MSP on A83
Why not spend the £1bn that is going to be wasted on a new Forth Bridge on making the A82 and A83 into proper European trunk roads?
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Webcraft: it’s apparently budgeted at £1.6bn, including associated infrastructure (i.e. approach roads & connections to existing roads), design and legal costs etc.
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If we moved the Scottish Parliament to Lochgilphead or Dunoon, that road would be fixed pronto – bet you!
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and why can’t this be considered as a solution? See 2nd item on the page….
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/archives/ear/publications/main/pub-news_bulletin_mon_200409.htm
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barmore2: it can and should (as already protecting the A890 and Kyle railway at Attadale on Lochcarron), together with rockfall mesh nets and maybe banks and ditches to divert storm flows away from vulnerable spots to areas where adequate culverts can be provided – but this latest news of ‘substantial tension cracks’ might dictate a reroute, or some real tunneling, or both.
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RW
The landslip protection at Lochcarron has been so successful they are reinstating the Strome Ferry crossing while they figure out how to get the road open again. Thankfully, the railway between Strathcarron and Kyle has remained open allowing my nieces and nephews to return to school.
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Grant – the present landslide trouble at Lochcarron is apparently at a different location, and while it may well now be proving to have been a false economy not to build a concrete gallery here as well, this doesn’t detract from the effectiveness of the existing one,
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The response finally supports what Alan Reid MP has been proposing all along. The delay has cost communities dearly.
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“One of the Scots Tories’ few bright sparks” . Newsroom, which Scots Tories do you have a problem with ?
I have in my time heard speeches and seen debates involving Struan Stevenson MEP , David Mundell MP , Ruth Davidson , Jackson Carlaw , Alex Johnstone , Alex Fergusson , Margaret Mitchell , John Lamont MSPs and have found them all to be intelligent , articulate and committed to making our country a better place .
I doubt if the calibre of representative of any of the other parties is any higher . You appear to have let your anti Tory prejudice get the better of you .
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I watched THE Scottish Tory MP being interviewed in Newsnight last night as he made what he clearly considered to be a robust case for the Conservative cause in Scotland. Because of his somewhat isolated situation Mr Mundell gets much more airtime than would be considered normal or healthy. I was tempted to take refuge behind the couch. The experience was embarassing in the extreme.I sincerely hope that kintyre1 was spared this as he does appear to genuinely revere this sparkling spokesperson.
Some commentators have unkindly pointed out that we have more pandas than Tory MPs here in Scotland now.
Sic transit gloria mundi.
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Kintyre1 asking about political prejudice, like his own with the SNP LOL
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CSB
You actually made me laugh.
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Party political chatter, while all perhaps very entertaining (when not verging on the tedious) brings to mind the vision of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, in the context of the A83 (and the A82, for that matter).
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But the above does show that in Keith Brown we actually have a Transport Minister who is prepared to be open and honest about problems – can Alan Reis say the same about Transport Ministers in place when his lot were in Goverment?
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While they are putting in the cockamamie “Relief Road” along the forestry track, they can do the same at Aray bridge as the flooding and consequent road closure is becoming more frequent! Or could we just have the comprehensive upgrading of both the A83 and A82 which any other European country would regard as the only reasonable solution!
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Some years ago the then factor for Argyll Estates told me he had a drawer full of plans for an ‘Inveraray bypass’ – which, if I understood correctly, would go behind the town and the castle, to remove through traffic from Main Street, Shore Street, the arch and the stretch of the shore road past the Aray Bridge that’s sometimes flooded by high tides.
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The discovery of ‘substantial tension cracks’ raises the question of whether Transport Scotland has risk-assessed the current policy of holding traffic at lights in this area – the occupants can hardly jump out of the way in the event of extensive rockfalls or mudslides. This spells more trouble for the road users, and increases the urgency of identifying answers to the geological problems. I can’t help thinking that, in the past, there might have been reluctance to face up to the cost implications – this is surely the reason behind the lack of adequate improvement of the A82 nearby between Tarbet and Ardlui.
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