Long delays for motorists caught out by A86 trunk road repairs
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Road bosses are warning of overnight closures of the A86 Newtonmore-Fort William road for road repairs with those caught out facing a lengthy wait.
The work is currently taking place from west of Ardverikie to east of Roughburn, and expected to continue into mid June.
The £600,000 project will see more than 3.5km of carriageway resurfaced at four separate locations.
A BEAR Scotland spokesperson said: "The works commenced on Sunday evening and are expected to continue over a period of four weeks, taking place between 8pm and 6am each night.
"Completion is expected by 6am on Friday 18 June, subject to weather.
"No works will take place on Friday or Saturday nights, nor will any work be undertaken on the Sunday 30 May and Monday 31 May given the Spring Bank Holiday weekend. "
The works have moved on from the Ardverikie area last night to A86 Galovie Farm from this evening to next Wednesday (June 2).
The rest of the programme is:
* A86 East of Aberarder – Thursday 3 June to Wednesday 9 June (five nights)
* A86 East of Roughburn – Thursday 10 June to Thursday 17 June (six nights)
The BEAR spokesperson said: "Due to the narrow carriageway widths at these locations of the A86, work will be undertaken using a full road closure to ensure the safety of road workers and motorists.
"As there is no suitable diversion route for these sections of the A86, vehicles will be held at either side of the work site until they are able to be escorted safely through the site during pre-set amnesty periods at 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, midnight, 2am and 4am.
"Motorists are encouraged to arrive in good time to ensure they are accommodated within the amnesty period."
Emergency services will be able to pass through the works at all times.
The A86 remains open during the daytime to keep disruption to a minimum.
However, a speed restriction of 30mph will remain in place as traffic will be running on a temporary surface.
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative, said: “This £600,000 surfacing improvement project will help address the defects across four locations on the A86, improving safety and ride comfort for road users.
“We need to close the road overnight to ensure that our teams and road users are kept safe during the project, however, we’ve arranged for the works to take place overnight and are avoiding working during busier periods to minimise disruption as much as we can.
"We’ve also arranged for amnesty periods that will allow traffic to safely pass through the work sites at set times thus limiting any impact as best we can.
“Our teams will do all they can to complete the works quickly and safely, and we thank the local community and road users for their patience while the re-surfacing operations are undertaken."
