Comment posted A83 hazard warning back in place by newsroom.
The saga of the A82 is no strong argument that Transport Scotland / Scottish Government is investing in the west.
The tale it tells is one of long inaction followed by an attempt to do as little as possible – which proved impossible and was belatedly recognised as such.
We all hope the outcome may be a decent road but how long has this comic turn lasted – and how much public money has been wasted in futility at what economic cost in a major road of limited use?
Recent comments by newsroom
- SNP meeting on Monday may be testing time for mega-coalition proposal
We’re not going to do a ’20 questions’ routine but, to let local politicians off the hook, it’s not any of them.
And we’re now taking a vow of silence. - First Minister’s choice not to condemn mob behaviour proves Farage point
Criticising behaviour – like Nimbyism [a worthy target], should not necessarily require tying it to a party or a group, although if there is good evidence why it belongs there, there is every reason to relate the two.
When you say: ‘Only in a very small number of occasions would I condone taking protest to the point of physical intimidation and I reserve that to some of the most significant ‘upheavals’ in modern times (examples being the fight against apartheid and the civil rights movement in the US) – even then there would be a line I, personally, couldn’t step over.’ – this is wholly understandable but using violence to protest against it is contradictory. I can never get playwright John Arden’s line out my head on this one: ‘You can’t cure the pox by further whoring.’
Civil disobedience is a very attractive and effective expression of disaffection but people are quite resistant to considering it.
Lynda - Arctic Convoy navies celebrated at Loch Ewe as surviving veterans receive Arctic Star medal
Email Jacky Brookes of the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum in Wester Ross: info@russianarcticconvoymuseum.co.uk (Russian Arctic Convoy Museum)
She will be glad to hear from you and of your father.
If you go to this webpage: http://www.veterans-uk.info/arctic_star_index.htm
- you will find an Application Form for the Arctic Star on it.
Alternatively, you can phone: 08457 800 900 and take it from there.
You will be able to get a posthumous medal for your father for his Arctic Convoy service – and although, painfully, he will never have known of it or seen it, he earned it and the medal will be very important to your family. - First Minister’s choice not to condemn mob behaviour proves Farage point
We have people in Community Councils in Argyll who are on the record as not wanting ‘people of low incomes’ in their area. And those will be people of a variety of political persuasions. The socialist NIMBY is not a rare bird.
It is unsafe to give representational status to the fringe adherents of any cause – and that is why the cause itself – any cause – must be clear about what it finds acceptable and what it does not.
The need for the formal, official representative of a country to be clear on matters like this is even greater – and it sets the bar.
How would Mr Salmond react to the same treatment the mob offered Mr Farage in Edinburgh?
It was sudden and unexpected.
It began with an invasion of the pub he was in.
It was intimidating – the mob crowded tight in, creating a real pressure.
The shouting and the abuse was literally ‘in his face’.
There was no way through nor any offered.
It would be surprising if the First Minister were not to feel equally shaken by such an experience – and very surprising if he had effectively condoned it as gleefully afterwards.
Personally, I’m not afraid of much – but the pressure of shouting bodies, the level of unreason, the aggression – with no signals that this might not turn to physical aggression… I wouldn’t have run but I would have been worried for my safety and I would have had no certainty as to the outcome.
The police clearly had reason to take a quite extraordinary series of measures to protect Mr Farage.
One of these was locking him in a pub for his own safety.
That meant that they were uncertain of their ability to protect him against a violence they, who were present – clearly felt was a potential development.
I feel – on good evidence – that Tony Blair did more damage than anyone to the political life of this country, to its expectation of honesty in those who govern, to its essential democracy and to its security – and that he has blood on his hands: of untold thousands of innocent Iraqis, of Dr David Kelly, of those who died in London in the bombings of 7th July 2005. I feel the most profound contempt for him.[And Nigel Farage has nothing of this level of gravity on his record.]
But I would act to protect Blair were he to be the butt of anything like this – because I do not wish to be implicated either in what he has done or in any primitive lynch mob response to it.
The best punishment for the attention-seeking and egotistical Blair is to pay him no attention. He is not an homme serieux.
The best response to UKIP and MR Farage, if you are opposed to their politics, is not to vote for them.
Lynda - Walsh to lead all but Lib Dems, Conservatives and George Freeman
No – not speculation – otherwise we would have said so.
But this is not a done deal.
It has to go for approval to an SNP meeting tomorrow [Monday].
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A83 warnings again because of exceptional weather.
Gourock trains cancelled, no doubt the bathtub ferries will go off as well. Third world contry indeed.
Why since billions are being spent on the Firth Road bridge, borders trains and Edinburgh trams is not a tiny amount being spent in the West of Scotland to keep ferries, roads and trains to a usable standard?
How is our MSP Michael Russell getting on with his daydreams about tunnels under the Firth of Clyde and the Irish sea. Has he considered airships? When is he going to do something practical?
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Ferryman: you are not being fair. Transport Scotland ARE investing in the West of Scotland. The infamous Pulpit Rock “squeeze” is finally being tackled after 30 years and will be accompanied with a bypass at Crianlarich to deal with the problems posed by the rail bridge. The AB3 is being studied for improvement, with plans in place for urgent emergency work followed by longer term solutions for this route in the Rest and Be Thankful area. (Even the Dunoon ferries are being looked at).
I fully support the need to continue to pressure our MSPs and the SG to ensure that our transport problems are not allowed to slip below the radar but a bit of credit where credit is due might be in order. Rome wasn’t built in a day but at least the current SG is actually addressing the problems rather than simply ignoring them.
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The saga of the A82 is no strong argument that Transport Scotland / Scottish Government is investing in the west.
The tale it tells is one of long inaction followed by an attempt to do as little as possible – which proved impossible and was belatedly recognised as such.
We all hope the outcome may be a decent road but how long has this comic turn lasted – and how much public money has been wasted in futility at what economic cost in a major road of limited use?
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Ferryman complaining about a politician talking of a tunnel under the Clyde sounds more than a bit Luddite – or is ferryman so enamoured of ferries that discussion of alternatives is verboten?
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The A83 situation appears shambolic with detailed plans not even in place. The Dunoon ferry situation is rank incompetence, why was a reliable passenger service not put in place that cannot cope with the weather instead of having the Coastguard serving notices on it.
The investment has not been forthcoming. The roads should have been fixed by now. The ferry situation only exists because the promised investment in bigger, reliable vehicle ferries was not made.
As to tunnels under the Irish sea I prefer my politicians to get the job done rather than having fantasies.
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Ferryman – you confuse the Clyde with the Irish sea.
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Our MSP is a man of vision. Trains will pass under the Firth of Clyde make their way to the Mull of Kintyre then travel under the Irish sea. I suppose there might be a tunnel between Portavadie and Tarbert, that was not mentioned, but our MSP knows the area, knows what he is talking about – surely you don’t doubt that?
The problems with the ferries and the roads will all be superceeded when the vision comes to pass, that is why he is paying little attention to them.
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Ferryman – I know you like to relate as much discussion as possible to your pet gripe about the Dunoon – Gourock ferry service, but have you ever seriously considered what’s wrong with the idea of a tunnel there? If built, would you refuse to use it on the grounds that it wasn’t a ferry?
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I would read the construction contract very carefully before using it. The ferries don’t have to be able to sail in normal weather so I would want to be sure the tunnel had to keep the water out when the tide was high.
The public should not need to study these things but our politicians and civil servants don’t seem up to the job.
Of course if I had a matter transported I would not need a ferry or a tunnel. Why does our MSP not dream up one of those, there is as much chance of one being delivered as a tunnel.
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The amount of landslip material that would be caught by the netting is dependent on the size of the mesh – I don’t know exactly what this is, but it wouldn’t stop liquified soil so is presumably intended to stop the larger stuff, which might be more likely to hit vehicles or land on the road and cause a collision. The tragedy in Dorset seems to have been caused by material that a mesh net wouldn’t have stopped, but unlike the situation on the Rest the material fell from directly above the tunnel entrance, bursting the parapet and flattening the car below. Thankfully there’s not that sort of risk here, but it seems to show just how powerful a large soil flow can be, and how it can behave much like an avalanche.
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“You put the warning on,
You put the warning off
On
Off
On
Off
The landslide knocks you off.
You tumble down the hillside
At 90 miles per hour
And then you will all go splat!”
A83 Hokey Cokey
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A useful report on landslides in Scotland
http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/files/documents/reports/j10107/j10107.pdf
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