Comment posted A85 Connel to Dalmally closed in both directions by WCHB.
must be electricity – it comes down these awfy wee wires
WCHB also commented
- It’s all right, Mel. Size is not important – really.
Recent comments by WCHB
- International fleet of classic Fife yachts to create a July sailing spectacle on Argyll’s secret coast
I’m a (sort of) internet punctuation bigot, and in this case Neil was absolutely correct – a short, enthusiastic comment in ALL CAPS.
(And I’m a sailor too, if you hadn’t guessed) - Why has UK Borders Force changed immigration rules for cruise passengers?
So, how many Immigration Officers (and their associated desks) are going to turn up at Oban to disembark 2000+ passengers? 2? – even 20 means each one processes 100 passengers. And then hang about all day, because, unlike an airport, the cruisers don’t all disembark on arrival.They don’t all go back on board. Some will take taxi or hire car to meet up with the liner at a later port.
- Scotland said to lack systems to maintain safe road markings
I don’t often agree with Simon but…I went looking for NRSMA, and the report.
I found no National RSMA, but found RSMA
http://www.rsma.co.uk
It’s a commercial organisation, supporting its members.
When you look at the “About” section, it’s very much about.The organisation … promoting the industry as a whole and the collective interests of its members.
The RSMA’s team … support its members.…providing a base for discussion, training and standards that help to ensure the health and safety of operators and to develop a highly trained, fully-qualified workforce
The report itself
http://www.rsma.co.uk/index.php/news/press-releases/80-red-alert-on-white-lines.html
is very much Highways Agency (Eng, Wales) based, with a couple of scathing paragraphs on Scotland towards the end (but no Argyll roads get specific mention)
The contact detail on the report is not RSMA itself, but a London PR company – Hadstrong
http://www.hadstrong.com/rebecca-hadley.html
Style: Confidently creates punchy media stories on minuscule budgets
Skill: devises PR campaigns to give clients a share of voice in the media that outstrips their marketing spend ten-fold and changes their status in their industrySo, an on the ball, effective pressure group, deploying good resources. But, the term “vested interest” could apply.
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Comment. If you’re driving at night, and can’t see where the road goes, slow down.If you really really want the specs for road marking, it’s a 30 page pdf
http://www.dft.gov.uk/ha/standards/dmrb/vol8/section2/td2607.pdf
I think it’s up to date, the previous version was TD26/05
- Transport Scotland’s response to Public Petitions Committee on A83
Have I missed anyone suggesting improving the uphill drainage on the Rest, with ditches and culverts?
(As appears to have been done at the Glen Ogle avalanche site)Everyone appears to expect a higher risk when the rains come, and when the drains are silted up. The solution appears to be to turn on the lights, wait for the avalanche, and then manage the consequences.
Would it be possible to put a network of drainage (more than Glen Ogle) into big storm drains (style as seen in Los Angeles car chase films, but slightly smaller) and get the water off the hill?
Maintenance would be to keep the drains clear. Because this would be before a fall, drainage repair should not interfere with traffic.
Initial expense would be less than for galleries, probably less than a new road. (Think maybe of digging 2 (or 4) miles of ditch, but no need for a smooth, relatively level surface for running water downhill)
In the longer term, though, regular patrols and flume clearance are dearer than maintaining the carriageway, but the A83 might continue to need this anyway.(The wigwag sign leaflets do mention drainage and culverts, but at a lower priority than the debris fences (for 100 tons of debris))
http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/files/documents/roads/Wig-Wag_leaflet.pdf
Get the water off the hill! It can’t be that easy, though?
Walter Burton
PS For our German tourists. The “Dam Busters” film wouldn’t have been nearly as impressive if they’d only drained the water off first!
- And have you heard: ‘Argyll and Bute – the NeverSeconds Song’
So good they named me twice!
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This is when the failure to improve extensive lengths of the A816 Lochgilphead – Oban road to a reasonable standard just adds to the problems.
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I am surprised that there are not more serious accidents on the A85 from Tyndrum to Dalmally as motor bikers seem to think that they are a law unto themselves.
Whilst driving on this stretch of the A85 especially during the summer months I see motor bikers weaving amongst the traffic and overtaking on blind corners. It is no wonder that this road is often closed due to accidents.
With any road it is not the road that is dangerous it is the people using it that cause the accidents. You cannot have accidents if the road has no vehicles on it.
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True, some drivers behave like lunatics, but not true that ‘it’s not the road that’s dangerous’ – there are places in Argyll where the road configuration is very clearly unsafe. And what’s this about ‘you cannot have accidents if the road has no vehicles on it’ – do you think roads are for decoration only? – this reminds me of days gone by in the Middle East, when there were suspicions that strangers were sometimes found guilty of causing accidents on the principle that if they hadn’t been there the driver on the wrong side of the road would still be alive.
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This was an accident between two trucks wasn’t it – how are motorbikers to blame for that?
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Presumably they weren’t, but the criticism of bikers is fair comment – some of the ‘bike packs’ that come out in good summer weather do behave like absolute lunatics, without any doubt whatsoever. So, of course, do some car drivers.
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Regardless of whom was to blame, one of my colleagues was involved in this accident. Let’s pray that both drivers recover from this tragic incident. My thoughts are with you both.
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Absolutely. How many of us have made mistakes and got away with them?
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People say that the A9 from Perth to Thurso is a killer road but this is only because motorists take un-necessary risks to try to reach their destination a few minutes earlier.
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It’s not as simple as that, is it? Aren’t people usually referring to the stretch from Perth to Inverness, where part of the problem seems to be the way that the road switches repeatedly between single and dual carriageways.
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Most people wrongly assume that it is the stretch from Perth to Inverness but there have also been serious accidents on the Inverness to Thurso section.
I could have just mentioned Perth to Inverness but no doubt someone trying to clever would have stated that the A9 started in the City of Perth and finished in Thurso.
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Here is a question for all of you.
Which is the smallest city in Scotland?
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That’s an unfair question for the rest of us since Bobby Wakeham has a permanent direct link to Wikipedia (how else can he authoratively comment on so many issues?).
Anyone back to Stirling for me now (oops).
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must be electricity – it comes down these awfy wee wires
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Mel.
The answer is Perth because it lies between two inches, the North Inch and the South Inch.
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Brilliant.
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I don’t get it.
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It’s all right, Mel. Size is not important – really.
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Mel.
It is a trick question, but if you have never been to the City of Perth then it is unlikely that you will know the answer.
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Mel.
On the front page of today’s Dundee Courier there is an article headed “Games move, but it’s only by Inches”
Perth Highland Games are moving from the South Inch to the North Inch because of the summer deluge.
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Ah right! It’s a play on words. I can’t quite get the hang of the limey sense of humour, but full marks for what is clearly a very funny joke. Got any others?
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Here’s one for you:
There are 10 types of people in this world- those that understand binary and those that don’t.
Geddit?
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Sorry I do not.
I was trying to broaden knowledge about Scotland for people who live in Argyll & Bute and beyond.
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Depth of knowledge is as important as breadth
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This is not a joke.
Which is further west, Dundee or Carlise.
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What have these got to do with a closure of the A85 – binary notation or a school quiz? (answer: nothing)
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The next quiz will be spelling, especially places names in northern England.
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