THE Scottish Government remains committed to a permanent solution at the Rest and Be Thankful “as quickly as possible”, an official has said.
The project administrator has also told an Argyll and Bute councillor that the £16 million spent on consultancy services for the stretch of the A83 is “not unreasonable”.
Councillor Alastair Redman (Independent, Kintyre and the Islands) contacted transport secretary Fiona Hyslop on the matter, with a response being received from project administrator Nick Groom.
A timeline displayed in the letter from Mr Groom shows that the project is at stage three of a six-stage process, which based on estimates, could take between six and nine years to fully complete.
Mr Groom told Cllr Redman: “I can advise that the Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.
“Delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority and we will continue to seek ways to achieve that as quickly as possible.
“The Scottish Government recognises the impacts this continues to have on the local community and businesses and we are committed to developing a response as a quickly as we are able.
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“The situation is being treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, with measures to maintain connectivity on a short, medium and long term basis being implemented.
“This scheme is technically challenging and the landscape is dynamic so it is vital we understand the terrain we are working in, in order to develop a suitable solution of the correct standard in the correct place.
“Improvements to the existing Old Military Road through the Glen Croe corridor are being made in the medium term to make it a more resilient diversion route until the long term solution is in place.
“These improvements will include debris catch fences, temporary bunds, drainage improvements and widening and discrete realignment to improve bends and avoid flooding.
“These works will be carried out on a phased basis and construction of the first phase, realigning the southern end of the route, commenced in December 2023 and construction of the new link road is now complete.”
Mr Groom continued: “Turning to your concern in respect of costs for consultancy services, I can confirm the £16m spent from 2021 to August 2024 covers the costs associated with essential design and assessment work on both the medium and long term solutions to the landslip risks at the Rest and Be Thankful.
“This includes costs associated with engineering design, environmental assessment (including environmental survey work), traffic and economic assessment, stakeholder engagement, and supervision of ground investigation works and medium term solution works to the Old Military Road.
“This expenditure is not unreasonable given the complexity and challenges of the scheme and the extent of the work being carried out to complete it.”
According to the information shared in the letter, the current development and assessment of the preferred option – a debris shelter – typically takes between 18 months and two years.
A statutory process usually takes between one and two years, procurement takes one year, and construction is estimated to take three to four years.
Mr Groom said that the details had been shared with the A83 taskforce along with the general public.
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