A83 Rest & Be Thankful Backing for Retention of Glen Croe Corridor

Call for a more radical solution including a new protected Alpine style road and an Arrochar and Tarbet bypass

National Park conservation charity, the Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, has come down in favour of building a new Alpine style replacement A83 in the existing Glen Croe corridor in response to the recent Scottish Government consultation on alternative routes for the strategically important A83 road link between mid-Argyll and Central Scotland.

John Urquhart, Vice-Chair of the Friends, said: ‘’For many years now the Scottish Government has regularly ploughed millions of pounds into a variety of measures, including large catch nets and sinks, to try and protect the A83 which hugs the side of the steep southern slopes of Beinn Luibhean and The Cobbler, but this is increasingly proving to be wholly inadequate to cope with the scale and frequency of landslips and flooding that has occurred in recent months and repeatedly over the past decade and more.

We are advocating that a more radical Alpine type solution is required which allows debris flows to reach the floor of Glen Croe unimpeded and involves possibly building a combination of cantilevers, viaducts and reinforced gallery canopies or tunnels on a new route not far from the existing Rest and Be Thankful route.’’

Mr Urquhart added: ’’Our European counterparts in more challenging mountainous areas such as the Alps and the Dolomites have for centuries used these various route building options with great success. We believe there is no reason why they would not work here provided the Scottish Government is willing to invest at the right level in an engineering solution which respects the outstanding scenic qualities of the area.

One of the benefits would be removal of the unsightly existing large catch nets which currently dominate the hillside landscape but, more importantly, this option would help to ensure economically fragile communities such as Tarbet, Arrochar, Cairndow and Inveraray continue to benefit from passing traffic upon which they are heavily reliant’’.

The Friends have also proposed, as part of a wider strategic review of the Loch Lomond to mid-Argyll A83 trunk route, that there would be significant benefits to be gained from exploring the potential to realign the route through the Tarbet-Arrochar corridor. They contend this would remove traffic bottlenecks and road safety issues as well as improving the quality of life for residents and enabling the area to prosper more as a flourishing tourist destination.