SCOTLAND'S most notorious road is to be shut for the third day in just over a week as concerns continue over a potential landslip.

Road maintenance workers are to shut the road from 4pm due to concerns over potential landslips on the hillside at the A83 at the Rest And Be Thankful.

Until then traffic on the the road will operate under convoy control.

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 road was shut on the night of January 3 into the morning of the 4th. It was also out of action on the night of December 29 into the morning of the 30th.

In October the road was out of action for over seven days due to the continuing problems with the road and has been subject to short-term closures since. It was out of action for two nights in November for a new wave of maintenance works.

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

Scottish Government-appointed maintenance firm Bear Scotland said: "Given the forecast for persistent rainfall overnight that may be heavy at times, and the high hillside saturation being experienced because of recent weather, traffic will then be diverted onto the Old Military Road.

"Traffic will utilise the Old Military Road until the morning of January 7 when the A83 should re-open to traffic, subject to the completion of a morning inspection of the hillside.

The Herald: The A83 and the Old Military Road diversion route will be closed until at least first light on Wednesday, February 24 following more heavy rain and landslips in the area (Photo - BEAR Scotland)

Flashback to past landslip

"Our team continues to have a presence on site and are monitoring conditions closely, and a further update will be issued if there is any change to the above traffic management arrangement."

One local campaigner said that it was long past time that a more permanent solution was in place.

"Like the ferries, this issue has dragged on and on and the only losers are the people who rely on this road for domestic and business reasons," he said.  "Enough really is enough."

The A83 is an almost 100-mile trunk road connecting the Mull of Kintyre and southern Argyll to the shores of Loch Lomond.

About 1.3 million vehicles travel the route every year and it acts as an important transport link for mainland Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides.

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.

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

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. In 2020 it had to be shut for over 200 days.

There has been criticism over millions being "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.

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.

The Herald:

Argyll and Bute Council want a new replacement route within the life of the current Scottish Parliament.

But in November, hopes getting a swift permanent solution to fixing the road were dashed as ministers confirmed it may not be completed till 2033.

A campaign backed by 1500 businesses has been pushing for the scheme to fix landslip issues described by one MSP as a "dog of a project" to be delivered by 2024 after an over 15-year failure to prevent disruption.

But ministers have confirmed that the timescale for a permanent solution remains at between seven to ten years to complete after being approved.

And it has been confirmed that the preferred option is not expected to be approved till the spring of this year.

Transport Scotland has already established a preferred replacement route via Glen Croe.

There currently five options on the table for the route, some of which include tunnels of up to 1.8 miles long. A tunnel option could take up to two years longer than the others.

In August, the Scottish Government announced a £25 million investment for design and development work for the route through Glen Croe.

There currently five options on the table for the route, some of which include tunnels of up to 1.8 miles long. A tunnel option could take up to two years longer than the others.

In August, the Scottish Government announced a £25 million investment for design and development work for the route through Glen Croe.

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.