A82 rock operation to close road on 9 – 12 December

Issued by Forestry Commission Scotland

To ensure the safety of road users, the A82 south of Fort William will close for the weekend of 9-12 December to remove a potentially unstable rock.

The date has been agreed following detailed discussions between Forestry Commission Scotland, Transport Scotland, the consulting engineer Coffey Geotechnics and the contractor Geo-rope.

In announcing the date Forestry Commission Scotland also said that the road closure will be in effect from 10pm on the Friday night until 6am on Monday morning.

Mike Green, the Commission’s project manager said: “This will provide enough time for a protective covering to be placed on the road below the rock, the rock to be released from the hill-side in a controlled manner, then broken up and taken away.

"We appreciate that closing the road over the weekend is going to inconvenience a lot of people, so we will be working every minute of every hour to remove and clear up the rock and open the road again."

Full details of the closure will be publicised online by Transport Scotland as well as the Commission, and information signage will be located at all main routes into the area over the weeks leading up to the closure to make sure that as many regular road users as possible are aware of the closure.

The Commission will also promote the closure widely amongst hauliers, bus companies and road users from elsewhere in the UK.

David Hamilton, National Network Manager for Transport Scotland, said: “We have been working closely with Forestry Commission Scotland since they identified the need to close this section of the road. In planning for the closure over the weekend we will be signing across all relevant routes to warn motorists in advance.

"In addition, our operating company Scotland Transerv will be on hand during the closure to help deal with any roads related issues as they arise, and stands ready to reopen the road as early as is practicably possible.”

For more information about Forestry Commission Scotland’s current operation to remove the rock – and the longer term programme over the next 3 years - visit www.forestry.gov.uk/A82operations

You can also follow us at http://twitter.com/A82operations. Up to date information on the closure will be available on the Traffic Scotland Web site http://trafficscotland.org/