A83 Rest and Be Thankful convoy: protesters warn single-lane plan is 'economically catastrophic'
Tractors and lorries drove in convoy on the A83 as MP Brendan O'Hara's petition against four years of single-lane traffic passed 8,000 signatures.
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber MP Brendan O'Hara. · Photograph: Chris McAndrew (CC BY 3.0)
Campaigners have staged a convoy protest on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful against plans for four years of traffic restrictions on the landslip-prone road.
About 20 large vehicles, including tractors and haulage lorries, drove along the route sounding their horns on Saturday. They were joined by local SNP MP Brendan O'Hara, whose petition against the plans has been signed by almost 8,000 people.
The plan
The A83 runs for nearly 100 miles from Loch Lomond to the Mull of Kintyre, carrying about 1.3 million vehicles a year. The Rest and Be Thankful section, a steep climb out of Glen Croe near Arrochar, is regularly closed by landslides, forcing long detours.
In 2023, Transport Scotland chose an open-sided shelter costing up to £470 million as its long-term fix. While that is built, it proposes running traffic on the Old Military Road as a single-lane convoy for four years.
'Argyll would be brought to its knees'
Mr O'Hara said the plan would be economically catastrophic for Argyll, hitting tourism, farming, timber and other industries. He said he could not imagine any other part of Scotland being asked to put up with it.
Calum McCrae, managing director of quarry firm A&L McCrae, said the impact on his business alone would run to tens of millions of pounds. He said visitors would not sit at traffic lights for 30 to 45 minutes each way and warned that haulage firms could go out of business. Campaigners say they have given Transport Scotland three alternative options.
Transport Scotland said it was committed to a permanent solution as quickly as possible, and that Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn would meet campaigners and local politicians this month before making a decision.