A83 Rest and Be Thankful road to have traffic lights for rest of weekend

Traffic lights on the notorious A83 Rest and Be Thankful road in Argyll will remain in place for the rest of the weekend.

Known for its steep ascent on the side of Glen Croe, the road has become infamous for being landslide-prone, especially during severe weather conditions.

Traffic returned to the main trunk road on Monday afternoon, after being forced to use the Old Military Road as a diversion since October 18 as a “precaution” due to forecast for heavy rain and high winds as a result of Storm Ashley.

Closures are not unexpected on the major west coast route, with a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealing that the adjacent Old Military Road has been used on 29 separate days between January 1, 2024 to September 26.

Traffic Scotland and road maintenance firm Bear Scotland have now confirmed  motorists using the Rest and Be Thankful will be faced with traffic signal controls for at least the next day, with it being “dictated by daily forecast and hillside conditions”.

Last week’s closure was first time traffic had been forced to use the Old Military Road as a precaution since there was hillside movement last month.

Earlier this week, The Press and Journal revealed that between 2012 and September 2024, £2,388,915.75 has been handed to the owner of Glen Croe Farm due to the frequent closures of the Rest and Be Thankful.

Since 2021, the Scottish Government has spent over £16million on consultant fees to come up with solutions to fix the road.

Argyll – ‘very much open for business’

Bear Scotland north-west representative Ian Stewart said: “We took the proactive step to divert traffic using the Old Military Road local diversion route over the (last) weekend period in response to the forecast for heavy rainfall from Storm Ashley.

“Monitoring and inspection of the hillside and the improved weather conditions will enable us to return traffic to the A83 under convoy control.

“The use of the Old Military Road again proved to be very successful, ensuring that residents and visitors could continue to access Argyll throughout the very wet period, keeping the area very much open for business.”