A series of roads across the north are in line for extra protection against hazards such as water and rock falls.
Highland Council is to spend £250,000 on improvements, such as new safety fencing and barriers, at a number of sites which have been identified as hazardous.
Nine roads have been highlighted as being in need of attention, including the A890 in Ross-shire between Achnasheen and Lochcarron, where there is concern about a steep drop at a culvert crossing.
The biggest spend will go on the steep Culnakirk section of the A833 between Drumnadrochit and Kiltarlity, which reaches a gradient of 15% in places.
Here, the council will spend £78,000 on upgrading barriers to protect motorists from the embankment.
Elsewhere, the busy C1126 ski road which carries hillwalkers and winter sports enthusiasts to CairnGorm Mountain will also be upgraded, with new barriers installed near the well-used Sugarbowl car park at a cost of £16,500.
Badenoch and Strathspey councillor Dave Fallows said he did not want to “look a gift horse in the mouth”, but called for further investment in other parts of the route.
He said: “On a good winter’s day this road becomes the busiest anywhere in the Highlands.
“I am grateful the barriers at the Sugarbowl car park are to be replaced as they are indeed in a dangerous state.
“They are at a difficult and sharp bend and the slope is falling down away from the barriers.”
A total of nine roads have been identified, at a cost of £248,750.
Others include the B801 in Sutherland, which will benefit from £32,000 of work on the barriers between its junction with A832 and Kinlochbervie Harbour, and the A890 between Auchtertyre and Ardnarff, which will receive £43,500 to protect road users from a steep forested embankment which drops to a railway line.
The A837 and A839 in south Sutherland and the A884 in Lochaber between Carnoch and Lochaline will also be targeted,
Highland Council’s director of community services, William Gilfillan said: “We have put a Highland-wide plan in place and identified risks.
“These are the top priorities for the money available just now.”