The A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful will close at 7pm this evening with all traffic diverted to the Old Military Road (OMR) Local Diversion route as a safety precaution.
The A83 re-opened under convoy control earlier this morning following periods of heavy rainfall in recent days that increased hillside saturation and surface water runoff, which prompted the use of the local diversion route on Monday night and throughout Tuesday.
With further periods of heavy rain forecast in the area over the remainder of the week, all traffic will be diverted to use the OMR from 7pm this evening and road users should anticipate the local diversion route through Glen Croe remaining in operation until Friday morning.
A safety inspection will take place on Friday morning to assess if it is safe to reopen the A83 during the daytime; however, further wet weather is expected over the weekend period and teams will be closely monitoring conditions so to protect road users.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative said: “We’ve taken the decision, along with Transport Scotland, to implement a convoy system on the A83 today until 7pm, with a diversion of all traffic onto the Old Military Road occurring thereafter as a safety precaution given the forecast weather.
“We are monitoring the weather and hillside conditions closely and a safety inspection will take place on Friday morning to determine if it is safe for us to reopen the A83 for road users.
“Looking ahead, we’re expecting further heavy rain to move through the area over the remainder of the week and into the weekend, and our teams will remain on high alert.
“As ever, we thank the local community and all road users for their patience while we continue to manage the situation at the Rest.”
For more information on how the daily decision-making is reached check the following link:-
A83 Rest and Be Thankful – Managing Trunk Road Operation | BEAR Scotland.
Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on www.traffic.gov.scot, twitter at @trafficscotland and the mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.
Road users of the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful will continue to be directed onto the Old Military Road (OMR) local diversion route when travelling through Glen Croe throughout the day and overnight given the weather forecast for further heavy rain.
Convoy operation on the A83 was implemented at midday yesterday, Monday 3 October, ahead of heavy rain forecast. Due to hillside saturation levels increasing, the decision was also made to divert traffic to the Old Military Road from 7pm yesterday as a safety precaution. Traffic will continue to be convoyed along the single track local diversion route, with rain forecasted to continue through the night into Wednesday.
A safety inspection will take place on Wednesday morning to assess if it is safe to reopen the A83 to all road users during the daytime; however, further wet weather is expected over the course of the week and teams will be closely monitoring conditions on site.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative said: “We’ve taken the decision, along with Transport Scotland, to continue directing all traffic to use the Old Military Road as a safety precaution given the persistent rainfall being experienced. A safety inspection on Wednesday morning will determine if it is safe for us to reopen the A83 for road users.
“Looking ahead, we’re expecting further heavy rain to move through the area over the remainder of the week, and our teams will remain on high alert.
“As ever, we thank the local community and all road users for their patience while we continue to manage the situation at the Rest.”
Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on www.traffic.gov.scot, twitter at @trafficscotland and the mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.
Ahead of heavy rain forecast across the area, for safety reasons the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful will operate under convoy control from 12pm until 7pm today, Monday 3 October. From 7pm, all traffic will be diverted overnight to the Old Military Road (OMR) adjacent to the A83.
Given the current forecast for more heavy rain later in the week, further use of diversions on to the Old Military Road and convoy control on the A83 may be required over the course of the coming week.
A meeting will be held at 8am tomorrow morning to assess the latest weather forecast and hillside conditions. The decision regarding traffic management arrangements for tomorrow, 4 October, will be made during this meeting. Given the poor weather forecast, it is likely a combination of Old Military Road diversions and convoy operations on the A83 will continue throughout this week.
The Old Military Road is a single-track road through the centre of Glen Croe which is used as a local diversion when necessary. Construction work continues on strengthening the landslide mitigation measures in the area.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West representative said: “We’re putting road user safety first and diverting all traffic to use the Old Military Road from 7pm as a safety precaution due to tonight’s weather forecast of heavy rain showers.
“A band of heavy rain is expected to impact the area from this afternoon, becoming heavy by mid-afternoon and continuing through the rest of the day and overnight into Tuesday morning.
“We have teams closely monitoring conditions in the area as well as the hillside above the A83, and we’ll assess the situation tomorrow morning with a view to re-opening the trunk road as quickly as possible if conditions permit and it is safe to do so.
“As ever, we thank all road users and the local community for their patience in advance while we continue with our work to address the Rest and Be Thankful.”
Real time journey information is available from Traffic Scotland on www.traffic.gov.scot, twitter at @trafficscotland and the mobile site my.trafficscotland.org.
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