WITH serious landslips now commonplace on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful, Transport Scotland has published details of 11 ‘corridor options’ to circumvent the Argyll problem area which is now regularly under traffic light control, when it is open to traffic that is. A series of ‘catch pits’ have only been marginally successful in keeping the road useable.
Primary route option is the current alternative, the Old Military Road, which has been re-surfaced, but has a demandingly steep incline at the western end, not ideal for the large amount of road freight which emanates from Campbeltown and Tarbert, Loch Fyne, en route to delivery points in Glasgow and the central belt.
The various solutions proposed to ensure a continuous trunking route to the west coast have certainly stretched the imagination.
Fixed link crossings built across the Gare Loch and Loch Long are presented as one option, but no doubt blinkered by the talk of a bridge over the North Channel linking Scotland and Northern Ireland, anything is possible. So perhaps unsurprisingly, suggestions have ranged from a West Kilbride to Bute crossing, alternatively Toward to Rothesay and Rhubodach to Colintraive.
Tunnels under the Firth of Clyde have also been suggested.
However the smart money could well be on building a completely new road to the north of the ‘Rest’, through Glen Kinglas or, even further north, through Glen Fyne.
The preferred corridor route is expected to be chosen in the spring of 2021.
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