Transport Scotland has been criticised for taking three and a half years to repair a lifeline Highland route that was reduced to a single lane by a major landslip in 2011.
The trunk road agency has announced that it hopes to appoint a contractor for the £1million project on the A82 near Glen Gloy, between Fort William and Fort Augustus, next month.
Work, which is expected to take around three months, would then start in March and it is hoped that it would be completed before the summer tourist season.
However, the A82 Partnership – a campaign group fighting for improvements to the Inverness to Glasgow road – is unhappy that it has taken the trunk road agency so long to reach this point.
Partnership spokesman, Stewart Maclean, today said: “This incident in November 2011 once again highlighted the vulnerability of the A82 and the impact on the community of yet another long-term single lane closure on this lifeline route.
“The fact that it will have taken three and a half years to return the road to normal operation reflects the priority placed on our road network by Transport Scotland.
“By comparison, the major rail line failure linking South West England to the rest of the UK took two months to reinstate earlier last year.”
He added that the group hoped to meet the new Transport Minister and said it would be highlighting “the imbalance of infrastructure investment between the West Highlands and the rest of Scotland”.
The landslide at Glenfintaig, about two miles north of Spean Bridge, occurred during a storm when a tree fell and dislodged part of the road, leaving the verge-side safety barrier suspended in mid-air.
The slide area is more than 40ft wide, by 16ft long and drops about 60ft below the carriageway edge.
And the road has been reduced to single lane traffic, controlled by temporary signals, ever since causing delays to motorists using the busy trunk road.
The current project involves realigning a 0.2-mile stretch of the road through land uphill from the gorge, which will also eliminate two bends.
A spokeswoman for the trunk road agency said: “We expect to award the contract for the work at Glen Gloy in the coming weeks and have a team onsite in March.
“The exact timescales will be finalised following the appointment of a contractor.”
She added that Transport Scotland had been working to find a way of repairing the A82 without having to close it completely.
And she pointed out that the interim measures prevented further damage to the road and ensured it was safe for all road users.
