Road to ruin?
Why a crumbling section of North Coast 500 has sparked fears
The condition of the historic Bealach na Bà mountain road to Applecross is now at “tipping point” given an influx of North Coast 500 motorists and a lack of basic road maintenance on the highaltitude route, it has been claimed.
The road, a critical route for thoselivingonthewesterross peninsula, has always been a popular draw, but its inclusion on the driving circuit through the north and west Highlands has led to congestion, breakdowns and damage to the road surface on an unprecedented scale, according to The Applecross Trust.
Executive administrator Archie Maclellan said: “The state of the road is now at a tipping point given increased traffic on this historic route.
“Applecross has always been a popular destination, but what we have now are large number of tourists coming in now with the North Coast 500. What we need to do is work out the volume of people coming through so we can measure the direct impact on the condition of the road.”
Car clubs drawn to the challenging but stunningly beautiful route, which features a series of hair pin bends that take drivers to an altitude of some 2,054ft, posed a new set of problems.
Mr Maclellan said: “There are groups of say 20 cars coming onto the Bealach as part of a car club. It might be a Mercedes club, or a group of old Ford cars or Porsches. It is just a bad scene when you get a load of cars travelling one way when you are meeting another load of cars coming the other way.”
The comments come as the trust helps to develop a tourism strategy for the peninsula.
Mr Maclellan said: “People just want to get round the NC500, so often there is not the benefit to Applecross itself, where people stop, enjoy the place and spend money.”
While an increase in the holiday let occupation during the shoulder months of the tourist season had followed the NC500, maintenance to the
Bealach na Bà was essential to support visitor growth, he added.
He said: “Drivers tend not to wait until a lay-by to pull over. If they see something coming, they simply make for the edge of the road. But with the road edges in a poor state, there are a lot of punctures happening and this is one of the main causes of breakdowns on the hill.
“It would seem that Highland Council resources are stretched to the point that basic road maintenance is difficult to accomplish and so it is more important than ever that suitable care and attention is taken to maintain the historic legacy.”
A Highland Council spokesperson said road maintenance was ongoing, with 150m of barrier replaced along with repairs at Tornapress Bridge, patching, surface dressing and ad-hoc pothole repairs. Five new laybys will also be built.
A statement said: “The National Condition survey doesn’t pick up on the typical over-run damage caused due to excessive traffic volumes (large edge drops, damaged verges etc) on roads such as the Bealach where passing place infrastructure cannot cope with higher traffic volumes. This is exacerbated by visiting road users either failing to grasp the need to reverse or being unwilling or unable to do so. The council’s available budget allocations are insufficient to address this type of road deterioration that is caused by drivers’ actions.”