SCOTLAND'S most notorious road will remain shut till Friday for safety reasons because of continuing fears of landslips caused by heavy rain.

The landslip-prone A83 at the Rest and be Thankful was shut from 7pm on Monday due to a forecast of heavy rain - and maintenance bosses indicated then there could be more closures to come.

Road engineeers first brought in a convoy system on the A83 alongside the existing temporary traffic lights as a safety precaution at around midday on Monday due to a forecast of heavy rain.

Motorists were then told that the official single track diversion route, the Old Military Road (OMR), which runs through the centre of Glen Croe was to act as a diversion using a convoy system from 7pm on Monday.

Bear Scotland, the road maintenance firm contracted by the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency said a meeting was due to take place on Wednesday morning to determine if it was safe to reopen the A83.

It emerged later that it re-opened on a convoy system at 9.30am on Wednesday morning but the information was not immediately communicated to the general public.

Motorists have expressed frustration over a lack of live updates over whether the road was open or closed.

Now Bear Scotland, the road maintenance firm contracted by the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland has said the road will have to close again at 7pm on Wednesday with traffic using the OMR as a "safety precaution".

The Herald: The A83 has been plagued by landslides, and the threat of them, for many years (Photo - BEAR Scotland)

The firm has now said the A83 will remain closed until Friday morning.

Bear said the road was able to re-open after periods of heavy rainfall in recent days that increased hillside saturation and surface water runoff.

A safety inspection will take place on Friday morning to assess if it is safe to reopen the A83 during the daytime.

But Bear said further wet weather is expected over the weekend period and teams will be "closely monitoring" conditions so to protect road users.

Eddie Ross, Bear Scotland’s north west representative said: “We’ve taken the decision, along with Transport Scotland, to implement a convoy system on the A83 today until 7pm, with a diversion of all traffic onto the Old Military Road occurring thereafter as a safety precaution given the forecast weather.

“We are monitoring the weather and hillside conditions closely and a safety inspection will take place on Friday morning to determine if it is safe for us to reopen the A83 for road users.

“Looking ahead, we’re expecting further heavy rain to move through the area over the remainder of the week and into the weekend, and our teams will remain on high alert.

“As ever, we thank the local community and all road users for their patience while we continue to manage the situation at the Rest.”

It comes amidst continuing criticism over money "wasted" over failed temporary fixes involving catch pits to the A83.

Moves over installing a series of catch-pits aimed at preventing road closures came after a major landslip around 650 feet above the carriageway shut the road in August, 2020.

Engineers said thousands of tonnes of debris including car-sized boulders slid onto the road after 100mm of rain hit the Argyll hills.

One of the landslip mitigation catch-pits, built to prevent landslip material reaching the road, caught around 2,000 tonnes - but it did not stop thousands more tonnes hitting the road.

The slip ushered in a series of road closures for the important Highlands route which by January, 2021 had meant it was open for barely three weeks in the space of five months.

Argyll and Bute Council has said it wants a new replacement route within the life of the current Scottish Parliament.

In August, the Scottish Government announced a £25 million investment for design and development work for the route through Glen Croe. The council welcomed the funding announcement and is now seeking a commitment that work will start imminently.