Connel Bridge and the A828 south of Barcaldine will close overnight next week for resurfacing and repairs worth £385,000, after a vehicle struck the bridge’s overhead beams.
Drivers will face 42-mile diversion when 2.5km of the A828 between Barcaldine and Benderloch close for 12 nights from Sunday November 4, and then Connel Bridge shuts for seven nights from Tuesday November 6 to repair overhead beams.
BEAR Scotland said due to Connel Bridge’s single lane, and restricted road widths at the area of resurfacing on the A828, both projects require road closures for safety.
It explained: ‘The A828 will be closed overnight between Benderloch and Barcaldine from Sunday November 4 to Thursday November 15, between 7pm and 5.45am, on Sunday to Thursday nights only.
‘No works will take place on bonfire night on Monday November 5. On the A85 at Connel and A82 at Ballachulish, a signed 42-mile diversion route will be in place via the A82 and A85 for road users travelling between Connel and Ballachulish.
‘Short amnesties will be in place to allow road users requiring access to properties accessed from the A828 to be safely escorted through the work site at approximately 8.30pm, 9.30pm, 11.30pm, 1.30am and 3.30am.
‘Road users should note that, although no surfacing works will take place overnight on Friday and Saturday, November 9 and 10, closures will still be in place on the A828 between 10pm and 5.45am for essential bridge maintenance at Connel Bridge.
‘From 10pm between Tuesday November 6 and Monday November 12, local access will be available from Ballachulish only, due to works being in place on Connel Bridge. The signed diversion route will be in place on those dates. Access for emergency services will be maintained at all times.
‘The A828 Connel Bridge will be closed from Tuesday November 6 for seven nights for essential bridge maintenance. With the exception of emergency services, no traffic will be allowed to cross the bridge during this work, therefore any road users requiring access to properties via the A828 will require to do so from Ballachulish. Access for pedestrians across Connel Bridge will be maintained throughout the project but will be escorted through the site only when it is safe to do.’
Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s north west unit representative, said: ‘Through combining Connel Bridge repair work and planned surfacing improvements south of Barcaldine, we aim to reduce overall disruption to motorists and local residents whilst maximising productivity within the closure period.
‘Essential maintenance at Connel Bridge is necessary after some of the beams were recently struck by an over-height vehicle. To fully optimise the required road closure other maintenance works including lighting repairs, the removal of overhead redundant cable trays and materials testing to the underside of the bridge will also take place.
‘We’ve scheduled the work to take place overnight to reduce the impact to road users as much as possible, and we’ve arranged the programme so that no works will take place on Bonfire Night on 5 November to reduce the impact to any road users on that stretch of the route.
‘Our teams will do all they can to complete the works as quickly and safely as possible, and we thank the local community and all road users for their patience in advance while we work on these projects.’
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