The A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful opened on Friday August 3 2012 following a landslide which closed the Argyll road on Wednesday August 1 around 4pm in the afternoon and further slides over night which left around 1,000 tonnes of debris on the carriageway.
Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil MSP was shown around the clean-up operation on Friday by director of trunk roads at Transport Scotland Roy Brannen.
Following the visit the minister met with local business owners,community representatives and councillors to discuss what could be done to reduce the risk of disruption in the future. He promised to set up a new taskforce to monitor short-term progress and produce longer-term proposals.
He said: ‘The taskforce,which will include representatives from all of the key players involved and be chaired by the Transport Minister,will meet on August 15.
‘Having met and spoken to local business owners,community representatives and councillors today,I fully appreciate their frustration at the ongoing disruption to the local economy,especially at such an important time of the tourist season.
‘We have already allocated significant funding to tackle the problem and,weather permitting,and if we can finalise a deal with private landowners,work will get underway on the emergency route in the coming weeks. And at around the same time,we will extend the length of debris flow netting on the hillside,which will also result in a lifting of the current traffic restrictions.’
The Campbeltown Courier questioned Mr Neil on the short and long term plans for the road – read all about it in the Campbeltown Courier August 10 2012 also available on line from the same date at www.campbeltowncourier.co.uk/digital
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