Motorists heading north to the west Highlands will face a 50-mile diversion into Argyll this week.
A £1million package of roadworks is being carried out on the A82 Glasgow to Inverness road, between Tarbet and Crianlarich on Loch Lomondside from today.
The work is expected to take 12 days, and the busy road will be shut on weekdays from 8am-6pm. It means a large diversion via the A83 Rest and Be Thankful road for drivers heading north to the west Highlands, particularly the Fort William area.
Glenfinnan Estate manager Alistair Gibson said: “Everyone knows the A82 is in a bad way so it would be difficult to condemn repair works. Maybe they should be done at night instead, though.
“I appreciate they have to shut it for safety of workmen but I would wonder the wisdom of closing it during the day.”
During the course of the works, the 90-strong team will be resurfacing the carriageway and repainting the lines, carrying out drainage work, cutting back trees, replacing signs, repairing damaged walls and a bridge parapet.
They will also replace a crash barrier badly damaged by a lorry earlier this year – which means the temporary traffic lights which have been in place since will finally be removed.
Risk assessments determined that due to the narrow verge, heavily overgrown embankment, steep drop into the loch – and the need to work on the slope to install the foundation for the barrier, day time road closures were required.
Teams from Argyll and Bute and Stirling Councils will also carry out litter picking duties and Forestry Commission Scotland will undertake tree felling within their land adjacent to the trunk road.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s north-west representative, said: “Trunk road safety is our top priority, and in this case we have to close the road for the protection of our teams as well as motorists.
“We have however reached out to other organisations not just to inform them of the closures, but also to provide the opportunity for them to use the traffic management arrangements we have in place to carry out any works of their own.”