At around 14.00 today, 21st February, you could see that the contractors working for Transport Scotland have the foot to the board in pushing to complete the conversion of the hardy old military road into an emergency landslide diversion route.
Above is the work in progress, literally to nail the soil on vulnerable slopes above this diversion, in case they too should let go, as the upper slopes do with the A83 higher up on this northern hillside.
There is evidence of a variety of stabilisation measures now in place on the slopes above this diversion route.
Above you can see what appears to be a late provision of a bit more room for HGVs etc to swing into the steep run uphill to the around 140 degree hairpin at the famous Devil’s Elbow, just below the exit from the emergency route, beside the car park and viewpoint at Rest and Be Thankful itself.
Surfacing has been done on that last section of the exit route on to the Lochgoilhead road and straight back on to the adjacent A83.
We anticipate that, when the single track emergency route is at operational readiness, there will have to be roadside signage – at both east and west entrances to the road – managing holding areas for the gathering of vehicles to be convoyed through the diversion in alternate directions.
The car park at Rest and Be Thankful is certainly in neither format nor condition to facilitate anything like that.
If you want a closer view of the nailing work in the top photo, here it is.