| A83 road | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length: | 97.8 mi (157.4 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| Northeast end: | Tarbet (NN319044) |
| A82 road (NN319044) A814 road (NN297043) A815 road (NN190099) A816 road (NR856880) A819 road (NN095086) |
|
| Southwest end: | Campbeltown (NR720204) |
| Road network | |
The A83 is a major road in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, running from Tarbet, on the western shore of Loch Lomond, where it splits from the A82, to Campbeltown at the southern end of the Kintyre peninsula.
Contents |
From Tarbet the A83 runs west across the watershed between Loch Lomond and Loch Long to Arrochar near the head of Loch Long. It then goes round the head of the loch, and along the western shore for a short distance, before turning NW up Glen Croe to the Rest and be thankful viewpoint picnic area (), at the pass through the Arrochar Alps from the shore of Loch Long to that of Loch Fyne. It was near this spot that an RAF Tornado crashed on 2 July 2009.[1]
Rest and be thankful are the words inscribed on a stone near the junction of the A83 and the B828, placed there by soldiers who built the original military road in 1753, now referred to as the Drovers' road. The original stone fell into ruin and was replaced by a commemorative stone at the same site.
The section is so named as the climb out of Glen Croe is so long and steep at the end that it was traditional for travellers to rest at the top, and be thankful for having reached the highest point. The current road no longer keeps to the floor of Glen Croe but steadily climbs across the southern slopes of The Cobbler, on the north side of the Glen, to the highest point of the pass. The westward descent to Loch Fyne is through Glen Kinglas, and from here the A815, the main road to Dunoon and the Cowal peninsula, branches off to the south.
On reaching the shore of Loch Fyne, the main road follows the eastern shore of the loch northwards to its head and then goes south west along the western shore through Inveraray and then on to Lochgilphead and Ardrishaig, where it crosses the entrance to the Crinan Canal.
From Ardrishaig the road continues south to Tarbert, where it crosses over to the western shore of the Kintyre peninsula. In the final section it passes through the villages of Whitehouse, Clachan, Tayinloan, Muasdale and Bellochantuy before finally crossing back to the east of the peninsula, on the Firth of Clyde coast, as it reaches Campbeltown.
The stretch south of the Rest and be thankful junction has been closed on a number of occasions due to landslides, causing significant disruption to local traffic. The road was closed here due to a 400-ton landslide on 28 October 2007.[2] The road was partially reopened on Monday 10 November.[3] A 1,070 tonne landslide closed the road around noon on 8 September 2009.[4] The road reopened at 15.00 on 10 September 2009.[5] The most recent landslip was on 1 December 2011, which closed the road for 24 hours.[6]
|
||||||||||||||