A83 Closure

[Mr.Everready]

Anyone heard if they plan to open the road tonight ?

[WTC]

Open 8:30am Sat morn single lane and will close again at 4pm. Unless weather gets wet!! This will go on 'till Tues. Unless weather gets wet!!

[WTC]

Press Release - 2nd Dec 2011 -17.30 Update

Landslip A83 – 0.5 miles east of RABT

Update from Transport Scotland

A Transport Scotland spokesman said:

"Public safety remains our main priority and we appreciate the patience shown by those affected since the road closure yesterday.

"At present the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful remains closed except to emergency vehicles, with diversions via the A819, A85 and A82 remaining in place.

"Work to clear the road of around 120 tonnes of mud and boulders has concluded and the road surface and drainage systems have now been cleaned. Detailed surveys on the slopes above the road have been carried out today by geotechnical experts and additional safety mitigation measures are being put in place later today.

"Given the need to closely monitor hillside conditions, which can only be conducted during daylight hours, coupled with the Met Office forecast for rainfall and changeable conditions until Tuesday, road authority partners have concluded the A83 should open during daylight hours only, reverting to the diversions above during hours of dark.

"We therefore expect to reopen the road to traffic at 8.30am tomorrow morning (Sat) and for it to remain open during daylight hours, closing again at 4pm. This arrangement is scheduled to remain in place until Tuesday when it will be reviewed again, and is subject to prevailing weather and road conditions.

"This solution is designed first and foremost to protect the safety of drivers using the road and road workers manning the traffic management arrangements, whilst accommodating the needs of the local communities." For real time journey planning information visit http://www.trafficscotland.org. The Traffic Scotland Radio Service can also be found on the website and will have regular updates to listen to for anyone with internet access.

Motorists should allow extra time for their journeys and pay attention to any advisory signs which will be in place throughout the works.

Follow our progress on http://www.twitter.com/scot_transerv or

http://www.twitter.com/trafficscotland

Diversion for traffic in both directions will be via A83 Inveraray – A819 Dalmally – A85 Tyndrum – A82 Tarbet. This will add an extra 26 miles on to journey.

[LANDROVER ROGER]

Open yesterday but the diversion signs were still there in Inverary,

[jdcarra]

Open yesterday but the diversion signs were still there in Inverary,

Thats just typical Roger.

Least you got home safe and sound despite the bad weather.

[LANDROVER ROGER]

Cheers J.D.The trafficscotland link was useful.

[Kintyre Forum News]

Start Date/Time: Saturday, 03 Dec 2011 - 12:19
Location: approximately half mile east of the B828
Type: Closure

Description: The A83 is now open to traffic during daylight hours, between 8:30am and 4pm. The road will close again at 4pm each evening until the following morning. The diversion route for the overnight closure is detailed below. Given the need to closely monitor hillside conditions, which can only be conducted during daylight hours, coupled with the Met Office forecast for snow and changeable conditions until Tuesday 6th December, road authority partners have concluded the A83 should open during daylight hours only, reverting to closure and diversion during hours of darkness. The overnight closure arrangement is scheduled to remain in place until Tuesday 6th December when it will be reviewed again. It is subject to prevailing weather and road conditions. Local businesses in Arrochar, Ardgarten and Cairndow areas are still operating as normal. Fuel is available at the local filling station.

Cause: Landslide

Diversion: Diversion during closure periods for traffic in both directions will be via A83 Inveraray – A819 Dalmally – A85 Tyndrum – A82 Tarbet. The diversion route is some 49/50 miles in length which will add approximately an additional 26 miles to the normal 24 mile journey between Tarbet and Inverary. Access remains available to Arrochar and Ardgarten from Tarbet and to Cairndow from Inveraray.

Public Transport: To plan your journey by public transport you can contact the Traveline Scotland information line on 0871 200 22 33 or visit their website.

[Ags]

We travelled the road yesterday and today and got on fine. Yes the signs are still in place at Inveraray but I think most people making the journey would be aware of the daylight opening hours. There are traffic lights in place again on the rest a wee bit further down the hill on the Glasgow side to where they were previously. I don't know about anybody else but I am just extremely happy when I pass that section of road now!

[Kintyre Forum News]

Not exactly great news....

Update on A83 at Rest and Be Thankful - Dec 5

ScotlandTranserv has announced that the closure of the A83 at Rest and Be Thankful during the hours of darkness will continue ‘until the current weather patterns change’.

Last Thursday, a landslip closed the road in both directions.

On Saturday, it was agreed that the road would be open during daylight hours from 0830 to 1600 until tomorrow, when the situation would be reassessed.

Today’s announcement from ScotlandTranserv is confirmation that the road will continue operating on that basis until further notice.

Monitoring of the area in which the landslip occurred is ongoing.

[katya]

We travelled down last night after returning from holiday, luckily friends had told us about the closure and snow forecast because the first indication you get on the road is at Tarbet! The traffic info sign before the Erskine Bridge advises of roadworks on the bridge and the one after the Balloch roundabout lets you know about a closure north of Connel Plus, at Tyndrum the diversion sign sends you up Glen Coe!!! On the plus side, it only added 40 minutes to our journey, which was in very bad conditions often only doing 30/40 mph.

[russanros]

http://trafficscotland.org/currentincidents/details.aspx?id=a440

It would appear that the Inveraray-Dalmally route is now closed due to heavy snow fall and fallen trees also, from traffic scotland website (my bold) :

Date: Tuesday, 06 December 2011
Start Time: 06 Dec 11 - 22:28:00
Location: A819 Dalmally - Inverarary
Direction: Both Directions
Type: Closure
Description: Road users are advised the A819 is closed to traffic in both directions between Dalmally and Inverary due to heavy snowfall and several fallen trees. This road is the diversion route for the A83 (Rest and Be Thankful) overnight closure Delay: Road users are advised to expect longer than normal journey time
Cause: Closure
Expected Duration: Unknown at Present

[Kintyre Forum News]

A83 Rest and Be Thankful update - December 7

The closure of the A83 at Rest and Be Thankful during the hours of darkness will be reassessed tomorrow (Thursday December 8 ).

Scotland TranServ said the decision to keep the current restrictions in place in the meantime was based on public safety issues.

A landslip last Thursday morning saw some 120 tonnes of mud and boulders slide onto the road. On Friday evening, work to clear the carriageway and clean the road surface and drainage systems was completed.

Since Saturday, the A83 at Rest and be Thankful has been open to emergency vehicles around the clock, and open to general traffic during daylight hours (8.30am-4pm) only. Diversions remain in place during the hours of darkness.

The decision to maintain this arrangement for the time being was taken following surveys on the slopes above the road by geotechnical experts. However, the recent heavy and prolonged snow fall since has severely hindered detailed monitoring of the soils on the slope.

Following a review by Transport Scotland, Scotland TranServ and Transport Research Laboratories (TRL), it was decided that the only option was to continue with the current arrangements until a further assessment can be made.

Geotechnical expert Dr Mike Winter from TRL said: “Visual monitoring of the hillside is continuing during the day, but given the current snow cover it is simply not possible to closely monitor the hillside soils during the hours of darkness.

"Further weather reports from the Met Office show it likely that further detailed observations may be possible on Thursday when it is hoped the soils will be visible. This will allow a detailed assessment of any movement on the hillside to be evaluated and to determine stability and safety."

Minister for Housing and Transport, Keith Brown added: "It is evident that in light of events last week and the additional poor weather since, we have been left with no option but to continue with the present arrangement.

“It is designed first and foremost to protect the safety of drivers using the road and road workers, whilst accommodating the needs for people to go about their business. I would stress we are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on the local community and get the road fully open as soon as is practically possible."

The situation will be reviewed again tomorrow (Thursday 8th) and a decision on whether to fully re-open the road will be made then.

Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for transport and infrastructure, Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, said: “This is a very difficult situation which is having a significant impact on the residents of and visitors to Argyll and Bute, and we are obviously working very closely with the other parties involved in a bid to get the road reopened as quickly as possible.

“However, the over-riding priority for all concerned is public safety. Drivers have been extremely patient and understanding over the last six days, and I would ask that they continue their co-operation while the situation is properly evaluated.”

For real time roads information visit http://www.trafficscotland.org

[WTC]

Came down the Rest on Sunday.

Sill can't understand why they make us sit at lights on the risky bit. Why don't they move the concrete things out the way to let the traffic flow more quickly. Sitting ducks

Hope the 'Great Storm' forecast for Thurs does not make things worse.

[Swanseajock]

Good points raised on Radio 5Live this dinner time by Donald Kelly. Hope someone who makes the decisions is listening

[kmc]

Good points raised on Radio 5Live this dinner time by Donald Kelly. Hope someone who makes the decisions is listening

What did he say?