Highland Council plan £115m tunnel to keep A890 open

A TUNNEL plan to keep a lifeline road in the Highlands open could cost the public purse £115 million.

Highland Council is considering options to ensure the A890 Stromeferry bypass in Wester Ross is no longer closed by landslides. The council spent £2.8m to deal with the road’s closure from 22 December last year to 23 April after a rockfall.

The bypass takes traffic around Loch Carron, and its closure saw vehicles forced to take a 140-mile detour.

The blockages also result in children living in Applecross and Lochcarron, and attending Plockton High School, being left stranded, with the only alternative road journey involving a 300-mile round trip.

Options to resolve the problem include a bridge, a 1.2 mile tunnel or a new bypass.

Estimated costs of the solutions range from £23m to £115m.

The local authority will present the proposals at an exhibition and public meeting at Lochcarron on Monday.

Graham Philips, chairman of transport environmental and community services, said: “We appreciate fully the inconvenience the local communities have suffered as a result of past and more recent prolonged periods of closure caused by rockfall.

“We will welcome the views of the public on the options we will be displaying.”