SCOTLAND'S most notorious road is to be shut yet again after is due to be re-opened with restrictions on Saturday.
The landslip-prone A83 at the Rest and be Thankful was shut from 7pm on Monday due to a heavy rain.
It is now due re-open on Saturday - but under restrictions after being shut for a fifth day today following continuing fears of landslips caused by heavy rain.
Bear Scotland, the road maintenance firm contracted by the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency said that "weather permitting" the road will be re-opened on Saturday under a convoy system. But it also warned that it anticipates shutting the road yet again on Sunday morning.
When the road is shut, motorists are sent onto a single track route, the Old Military Road (OMR), which runs through the centre of Glen Croe and acts as a diversion using a convoy system.
It means that the road will have been out of action for at least six out of seven days since Monday.
Campaigners have been long called for a full public inquiry to determine why road is still not fixed.
Moves over installing a series of catch-pits aimed at preventing road closures came after a landslip around 650 feet above the carriageway shut the road in August, 2020.
Engineers said thousands of tonnes of debris including car-sized boulders slid onto the road after 100mm of rain hit the Argyll hills.
The slip ushered in a series of road closures for the important Highlands route which by January, 2021 had meant it was open for barely three weeks in the space of five months.
There has been criticism over money "wasted" over what is considered to be failed temporary fixes.
Catch pits are designed to ‘capture’ debris material from a landslip and prevent it from reaching the road.
Two years ago officials said that it may take ten years for a permanent solution to stop landslides on the iconic Scots road.
Bear Scotland said traffic will continued to be diverted onto the OMR until Saturday morning due to the "heavy persistent rain forecast and high hillside saturation levels" when it is hoped a convoy system will be introduced on the A83.
But a spokesman added: Further heavy rain is however forecast for Sunday, and it is currently envisaged that traffic will be diverted onto the Old Military Road Local Diversion Route in the early hours of Sunday morning."
The A83 at the Rest has been operating under a traffic lights system after a series of landslips over a number of years that have put the important Highlands artery out of action for weeks at a time.
Argyll and Bute Council want a new replacement route within the life of the current Scottish Parliament.
In August, the Scottish Government announced a £25 million investment for design and development work for the route through Glen Croe. The council welcomed the funding announcement and is now seeking a commitment that work will start imminently.
The final award was given by the Scottish Government transport agency to a joint venture featuring Quebec-based consultants WSP and engineering and project management consultants Atkins, which is a subsidary of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin while a decision over a preferred solution is not due till next Spring.
The contract was finalised, a year and three months after the Scottish Government's transport agency set a deadline for the management services to support the delivery of a new length of trunk road at the Rest and be Thankful.
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