Lochgoilhead road remains closed
The B828 road from the A83 to Lochgoilhead will remain closed until Saturday February 10, says Argyll and Bute Council.
However, with more bad weather forecast later this week, it is possible that this date will be pushed back again.
Argyll and Bute Council carried work to repair a bridge and construct new retaining walls at various points along the main route into Lochgoilhead before Christmas, with the hope it would reopen on December 22.
But a specialist contractor working on behalf of Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) advised that there were two large 350-tonne boulders on the hillside above the road that had become unstable and the road has remained closed.
Work to remove the boulder started in January but, said a spokesperson for FLS, “recent storm conditions have resulted in delays that mean the likely completion date – weather permitting – will be February 10”. “Once the hillside is confirmed to be safe, the council will remove road blocks, and clear the road of any debris resulting from the hillside works to make it safe for use. We expect this to take no more than one working day, subject to any unforeseen issues arising.”
The road had been damaged during the storms and floods of the weekend of
October 7-8, 2023 and traffic in and out of Lochgoilhead has been restricted since then to using the tortuous Hell’s Glen road.
Residents of the village have complained that they have been “forgotten” about and have raised concerns over the damage that is occurring to the Hell’s Glen road with the increased traffic, as well as the time it will take for emergency services to reach Lochgoilhead and the safety of the road.
Meanwhile the council is also working to clear the thousands of tonnes of debris that slid from the hillside above the A816 near Ardfern during the October floods.
An emergency diversion road was opened on December 16 and more than 15,000 tonnes of debris has been moved from the A816.
A council spokesperson said: “We will reopen the main road once the bunds, catch pits and attenuation fencing are installed. This should take four to six weeks to construct once the land access is secured.”