A 60-year-old driver has been reported to the procurator fiscal after a collision involving two heavy goods vehicles closed the busy A82 in Lochaber yesterday.
The incident happened at around 10am near Lodge on the Loch at Onich, 10 miles south of the town, when plant machinery on one of the vehicles came into contact with another travelling in the opposite direction.
A motorist told the Press and Journal: “One of the lorries seemed to be carrying machinery of some sort which had shifted to one side and I saw a lot of debris on the road as well. The traffic queues were terrible.”
A businesswoman who travelled to Fort William from Inverness for a meeting was told when she arrived that it was going to be cancelled as delegates were still caught up in the tailbacks and did not know when they would reach the town.
“I was a bit annoyed, but I suppose these things happen,” she added.
Although one lane was reopened to allow traffic to go through, a queue of vehicles trying to travel north stretched back for miles with drivers still waiting to cross the bridge at Ballachulish at around 2pm.
Isla Campbell, Area Inspector for Lochaber, said: “At about 10am, officers were called to a report of a collision between two large goods vehicles just south of Onich.
“A large piece of plant machinery being carried by one of the lorries shifted and came into contact with a second lorry travelling in the opposite direction. As a result, the road was closed for approximately four and a half hours while the plant was safely adjusted, the lorries moved and the road cleansed.
“During this period, when possible and safe to do so, officers allowed trapped traffic to disperse. No other vehicles were involved in the incident and nobody was injured. The 60 year-old driver of one of the lorries has been reported to the procurator fiscal.”
Stewart MacLean of the A82 Partnership added: “Heavy goods vehicles were involved so therefore recovery and road reopening took some time. There is no easy diversion here.”
