Four sections of the A828 between Appin and Ballachulish are set to benefit from an improved road surface as surfacing improvements are set to get underway next week.
The £595,000 investment for Transport Scotland will see improvements across more than three kilometres of the A828, creating a safer and smoother journey for road users.
The overnight project is set to begin on Monday 24 August and is expected to take four weeks to complete. The surfacing improvements will take place between 8pm and 5am each night with work due to be completed by 5am Thursday 17 September. No works will take place on Friday or Saturday nights.
Due to the narrow carriageway widths at these locations of the A828, work will be undertaken using a full road closure to ensure the safety of road workers and motorists.
The programme is outlined as follows:
During the first three nights of work (Monday 24, Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 August) a signed diversion route will be in place via the A82 and A85, adding an additional 50 minutes to the journey time for road users travelling between Connel and Ballachulish. This is due to the significant depth of excavations and location of the project making the passage of vehicles unsafe. For the remainder of the project at each location, amnesties will be provided at 10pm, 12am, 2am and 4am. During these times vehicles will be safely escorted through the site under a 10mph convoy traffic management system.
Emergency services will be able to pass through the works at all times.
The A828 will remain open during the daytime to keep disruption to a minimum, however, to ensure the safety of motorists a speed restriction of 30mph will remain in place as traffic will be running on a temporary surface.
Strict physical distancing protocols, in line with Scottish Government guidance, will be in place to ensure all site personnel remain safe once the project gets underway. New safe operation procedures and risk assessments have also been developed to ensure teams are kept safe throughout the project.
Commenting on the improvements, Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative said: “These surfacing projects across these four locations on the A828 will help address any defects and greatly improve the road surface for motorists.
“We need to close the road overnight to ensure both our teams as well as road users are kept safe during the project, however we’ve arranged for the project to take place overnight and are avoiding working at weekends to minimise disruption as much as we can. We’ve also arranged for amnesties to be in place to allow for traffic to safely pass through the work sites at set times to further limit any impact.
“We’ve changed our ways of working to ensure all staff and the local community are kept safe at all times, and all personnel will be subject to strict physical distancing protocols in line with Scottish Government guidance. Thorough risk assessments have been developed and cleansing stations will be implemented on site to ensure all staff remain safe.
“Our teams will do all they can to complete the works as quickly and safely as they can, and we thank the local community and road users for their patience in advance while we complete these projects. We encourage motorists to plan ahead before setting out by checking the Traffic Scotland website for up to date travel information.”
Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on www.trafficscotland.org, twitter at @trafficscotland or the new mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.
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