SCOTLAND'S most notorious road is to shut again from tonight for safety reasons after another forecast of heavy rainfall.
The landslip-prone A83 at the Rest and be Thankful is due to shut at midnight and was expected to be out of action throughout Friday.
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.
The A83 at the Rest had been operating in a convoy system throughout Wednesday after again being out of action on Tuesday.
Earlier this month the road was out of action for over seven days due to the continuing problems with the road.
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.
Flashback to a past landslide
Two years ago officials said that it may take ten years for a permanent solution to stop landslides on the iconic Scots road.
Scottish Government-appointed maintenance firm Bear Scotland confirmed that the diversion off the A83 was expected to be in place at midnight.
A spokesman for Scottish Government-appointed maintenance firm Bear Scotland said: "Given the forecast for increased heavy rainfall...traffic will be diverted onto the Old Military Road from midnight.
"The Old Military Road diversion will continue to be used during the day tomorrow. The Bear Scotland team continues to have a presence on site and will be carrying out a detailed inspection of hillside conditions at first light tomorrow morning and throughout the day."
At 9.15am on Friday Bear Scotland said that had changed its plans through an improving forecast and that the A83 would be back in use under convoy control from 11am.
"Given the subsequent forecast for unsettled weather and further rain, the A83 will continue to operate under convoy control over the weekend," it said.
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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