The not very restful Rest...

The current problems at the Rest and be Thankful on the A83 are causing huge inconvenience , business disruption and considerable annoyance to many of my constituents - and to me.

I was there this morning just after another incident had frustrated attempts to get the Old Military Road open, which provides a much needed in situ diversion , even though it is single track and has to be managed by convoy running.

My extra picture shows a little of the detail of the massive landslips that have happened here in recent days. They are certainly the worst I have ever seen anywhere let alone in this spot.

The mitigation work that has been on going for several years has made a difference and Transport Scotland estimates that it has avoided up to 23 days of closure. However it is clear that there are more lessons to be learnt as a result of what has happened this week and Michael Matheson, the new Transport Secretary was on site today as well to ensure that such a process gets underway alongside the clean up.

More heavy rain is forecast but I do hope that the remedial work required can be completed safely over the weekend . The closure of a main trunk road for so long isn’t tolerable for anybody.