Anger as landslip shuts key road again

THE closure of a key mountain pass by a landslide for the third time in four years has been condemned as “simply not acceptable”.

The criticism came as engineers prepared to assess whether it was safe to reopen the A83 in Argyll, after clearing 120 tonnes of debris from the road.

The landslide happened after nearly 2.6in – one quarter of the area’s average monthly rainfall – fell in two days.

Drivers on the route between Glasgow and Kintyre were forced to make a detour via Tyndrum to the north, adding 26 miles to their journeys.

The landslip happened half a mile east of the stretch of the road known as Rest and Be Thankful.

Previous incidents, which happened yards from each other on the same stretch, closed the road for two days in 2009 and two weeks in 2007.

Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor called for greater action to prevent a repeat. “Yet again, the A83, which is a lifeline route to Argyll, Dunoon and Campbeltown and the main gateway for tourists to these areas, has been blocked,” he said.

“I have been, for years, urging successive transport ministers to accept the key strategic importance of the A83 and to invest in areas that are at risk of landslides to ensure they can be prevented.

“If we are serious about attracting inward investment to Argyll and Bute, and Kintyre and Campbeltown in particular, then this state of affairs is simply not acceptable.”

The landslip happened just after 7am. Flashing warning signs alerting drivers to an increased landslide risk, which were installed after the 2009 incident, were in operation.

One lane of the single carriageway road was reopened yesterday afternoon for emergency vehicles only.

First Minister Alex Salmond told MSPs that he expected the road to be closed for normal traffic up to 24 hours.

A spokesman for Scotland TranServ, which maintains the road for the Transport Scotland agency, said yesterday: “Due to the continuing concerns our engineers have regarding the slope stability, the closure will continue overnight. The situation will be reviewed at first light.”

Transport minister Keith Brown said: “Public safety remains our main priority. We are pressing ahead with delivering the landslide mitigation programme, investing £500,000 per year across the [trunk road] network.”