Unionist governments failed to improve A82

Sir, I refer to the letter from Donald Cameron, Conservative MSP, published in last week’s letters page regarding the A82 and the SNP government.

I agree that the A82 is a lifeline to the West Highlands. For nearly 40 years, the traffic lights at Pulpit Rock on the side of Loch Lomond bore testament to the fact that improvements to the road were long overdue.

That section of road was recently upgraded by the Scottish Government.

Donald acknowledged that the road had been improved with the new Crian larich bypass.

The improvements at Bridge of Orchy and Black Mount should also be noted.

Unfortunately, these improvements fall well short of the extensive works required to upgrade the A82 which, in effect, is a major commercial route to the West Coast. Having been in power for nine years, the SNP government has made a start.

Donald asks why it has taken the SNP so long to take an interest in the road as upgrading work has been required for a very long time.

The A82 improvements have been required since locals, tourists and commercial vehicles have been using the road.

That’s an awful long time – a lot longer than the nine years the SNP government has been in power.

He also rightly states that landslides are a threat.

Like the requirement to improve the A82, the threat of landslides on this route has not abated over the years that traffic has trundled up and down.

Having agreed with Donald on the future improvements required, I would ask how much money did the Unionist governments of the day spend on this road, which areas of road were upgraded and when was this work carried out?

Also, as landslides were always a threat to road users, what works were carried out by any Unionist government during Scotland’s oil bonanza to ensure safety on the A82?

Who benefited from Conservative budget decisions? Not a great deal has changed on that score.

By reducing budgets to Scotland, the Conservative government cannot be absolved of blame.

Unionist politicians cannot be all things to all people any more than they can serve two masters.

MSP Kate Forbes, like Donald, has only just been elected.

I am sure there is more chance of Kate being successful in getting monies from the reduced total Scottish budget spent on the A82 than Donald will be in persuading the Conservative government in Westminster to top up our reduced budget or maybe provide some of the money it syphoned from oil fields in the North Sea over a longer period of time than the existence of the traffic lights located on the single-track road at Pulpit Rock. Councillor Bill Clark, Highland Council.