SCOTLAND'S most notorious road re-opened on Wednesday morning after being closed as a "safety precaution" due to a forecast of heavy rain.

The landslip-prone A83 at the Rest and be Thankful was shut from 7pm due to a forecast of heavy rain and re-opened at 8am.

But maintenance bosses have indicated there could be more closures to come.

All traffic are now able to used the trunk road under traffic light control.

Motorists were diverted by convoy through the official single track diversion route, the Old Military Road which runs through the centre of Glen Croe over night.

Bear Scotland, the road maintenance firm contracted by the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency said a drier period is now forecast until the weekend and it that it is anticipated that operation of crucial Highlands route will be maintained under traffic signal control in the coming days subject to weather and hillside conditions.

READ MORE: Chaos on A83 at Rest and be Thankful will shut businesses and is a 'disaster' for economy and jobs, say campaigners

Bear said teams continue to monitor conditions in the area with hillside saturation levels increasing and will remain on standby ready to implement convoy operations on the A83 or Old Military Road diversion route should conditions require it.

The Herald:

Eddie Ross, Bear Scotland’s north west representative, said: “We’ve been closely monitoring the weather in conjunction with hillside conditions over the past 24 hours, and following an inspection this morning we have re-opened the A83 under traffic signal control.

“A drier spell of weather is now expected through to the end of the working week but further heavy rain is expected over the weekend, and we are reviewing conditions daily to inform decision making.

“As ever safety is our number one priority, and we thank the local community and all road users for their continued patience while we continue to manage the situation at the Rest.”

Campaigners have been calling for a full public inquiry to determine why road is still not fixed.

The move comes amidst continuing criticism over money "wasted" over failed temporary fixes involving catch pits to the A83.

Catch pits are designed to ‘capture’ debris material from a landslip and prevent it from reaching the road.

The Herald revealed last month that transport chiefs had spent some £8.5m on "wasted" temporary sticking plaster fixes to try to prevent landslips on the key road over five years.

Construction of the last catch-pit on the road was completed in August having taken over twice as long to install as promised.

The latest catch pit next to the trunk road, will be located at the foot of the steep sided channel formed by the major landslides in August and September last year.

Moves over the latest measures to prevent road closures came after a major landslip around 650 feet above the carriageway shut the road in August, last year.

Engineers said thousands of tonnes of debris including car-sized boulders slid onto the road after 100mm of rain hit the Argyll hills.

A new A83 route which could include a tunnel close to the A83 has been identified as the Scottish Government's favoured permanent solution - but it is a long-term solution which could take seven to ten years to complete after being approved.

But that choice has now led to five new options on the table for the new Glen Croe route, some of which include tunnels up to 1.8 miles long.