Rest and Be Thankful improvements underway

A notorious road in the Scottish Highlands where a coach was blown over over is due to have improvements made to it.

An appraisal of eleven options to improve the resilience of the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is underway.

The road is occasionally blocked due to landslides.

The potential options are being considered as part of Phase 1 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review and, in parallel to this, a dedicated project team is being established to undertake more detailed environmental and engineering assessment, as well as stakeholder engagement.

Work will begin on the next phase of catch pits (an empty chamber designed to catch silt and other debris in a drainage system) in September. Proposals for further catch pits are being considered, and a new geotechnical survey of the site is to be carried out.

In March 2015, a Lochs and Glens coach was blown off the road and went down an embankment towards Loch Restil. It rolled over once in the process and came to halt in an upright position just short of the loch. The driver and a number of passengers were injured. The police took the view that the coach was taken off the road by the wind.