A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

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OLD GIT
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by OLD GIT »

Last post does intrigue me, as Smoggie land ( Mrs OG is Smoggie, born & bred)is one place where I've seen a lot of poor quality driving.
I'm surprised that on a site of road enthusiasts, driving to the limit is not something more road folks know about( unless some are too interested in looking at road signs, be they ,as in the case of speed limit ones in M'bro of the wrong design.
Car crashes in Glencoe- and up to Inverness, must be something of the speed police invention- I drove both roads regularly and never saw any accidents.
But what does annoy me is the attention to 2/3 mph over the limit, but none given to those who are IMHO the biggest cause of problems ,especially, in the likes of Glencoe- 40 MPH anywhere, tailgating Tommy from ( most usually ) within the confines of the M25.
Perhaps this sort need some driver training, on how to drive above 40 on the open road, and how to complete an overtake safely, giving respect to other drivers.
For the gent talking about cars that could breach the limit now- please add my car of choice for a trip through Glencoe in the 60- a car of the late 50's that move- top speed ( on paper ) ,close to 80MPH, but it had the nice feature of a BMC engine of the era- in Essex, where it might have spent most of it's life- it never got above 50, but stick it on an open road with long straights aka Glencoe and it was a different car, bearing in mind that it could corner as well ( or is that as bad as) a Moggie Minor Van- or my works van a Commer 1500. Neither would be rated ,today as high HP ,but they moved when given a run.
I note in Keiths post, mention of a Victor- the early ones were short on HP,but depending on gearbox , the 2000 one could shift. Fit a 2000 box and you got top speed- fit the identical 1600 box and it was slower, but almost a dragster.

Again- I talk as another poster on here of "a safe speed " - defined very neatly by the late great Paul Smith as " fastest you can drive ,being able to stop in the distance you can see ahead" - Coming from a side shoot of the A82, I found rapidly that this is one thing new drivers need to learn.
I STILL drive today in the era of drum brakes/ cross ply tyres and NON servo brakes. I'm still looking at acceleration times as for a NON turbo engine. But then, I'm 70 +, with a licence that's only dirty because it's picked up some smog (no pun intended Keith) - in my wallet , I'm on a NCB that makes me think I should hang up my licence and go talk to flowers (as our candidate for the monarchy oft does) , but I still find that local bus service is not fit for purpose.
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exiled
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by exiled »

IIRC one of the first dedicated highway patrols in Scotland, according to the Glasgow police museum, was the A82.
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The Devil's Armpit
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by The Devil's Armpit »

I've seen a few accident sites on the Tyndrum - Fort William route.
From the usual roadside shunts, to overturned cars in the heather [ going too fast for those descending sharp corners ] to a caravan reduced to firewood near Ballachulish.
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novaecosse
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by novaecosse »

A82 Tarbet to Inverarnan design option

Carriageway is to be 7.3m wide with 1m hardstrips each side, with a 2m wide cycleway / footway along one side.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Glenn A »

I used to consider the A75 to be atrocious, driving from Gretna to Dumfries on the old road seemed endless, but the S2 with the narrow hard shoulder that has mostly replaced this section seems to work well so long as people are sensible and are prepared for waves of lorries at certain times of day( the 50 mph speed limit for lorries on S2s has made a big difference). Driving on the A75 at a quieter time from Annan to Gretna yesterday meant I could drive at 55-60 mph to the Gretna by pass. Taking the B721 from Gretna to Annan, while much quieter than in the eighties, made me remember how snarled up and slow this road was and accidents were common due to the amount of houses along the route, junctions and lorries.
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Chris Bertram
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Chris Bertram »

Lorries are still officially restricted to 40 on single carriageway roads in Scotland.
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novaecosse
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by novaecosse »

Chris Bertram wrote:Lorries are still officially restricted to 40 on single carriageway roads in Scotland.
The A9 between Perth and Inverness is the only road in Scotland where HGV's are permitted to do 50mph under a trial backed up by a permanent traffic regulation order.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by mikehindsonevans »

We used the A82, from Glasgow up to Glencoe and onwards into Fort William, several times in early June. It was a fine scenic drive, but you can see how less-patient motorists could end up going head-on into a body-bag. It did its job and we returned safely to Glasgow, thence to Hampshire. We recommend the café in the station building at Crianlarich.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Glenn A »

KeithW wrote:
OLD GIT wrote:I ALWAYS wonder on the opinions of southern folks on this road. It's a marvel of engineering. And it teaches young drivers HOW to drive. today- the limit is 70 - in my hey day - there was no limit, but at 70/80/90- we didn't crash off into a heap at the side of the road. We just drove the road to the LIMIT.
I drive this road ,as I have always have- "at the limit" -as it a road that expects that.

There are two points to be made here.

1) In 1965 when the NSL came in most cars couldn't sustain speeds above 70 mph and with all drum brakes and no servo they couldn't stop reliably from high speed either. I have vivid memories of the terror induced by brake fade during an emergency stop from 65 mph on the A1 in 1970 when I was driving a Hillman Imp.

The 5 top selling cars that year and their top speeds were
Austin/Morris 1100 84 mph
Ford Cortina 1200 75 mph
850 Mini 75 mph
Ford Anglia 105E 74 mph
Vauxhall Victor 76 mph

2) A lot more cars crashed with fatal results in 1965 than do today. Drink driving was still the norm with roadside breath tests not coming into use until 1967 and most cars had no seat belts. Road fatalities were still around 7000 per annum in the mid 60's with far fewer vehicles on the road. On the suburban street where I lived only 3 of the 12 households had a car. The owner of the local pub/hotel really was the King of the Road in his 5 litre V8 Bristol 408. The cars parked on our street were an Austin A35 an Austin A40 and a Ford 100E Prefect
Not forgetting as well, if you didn't go through the windscreen of a car, the steering wheel was made of hard plastic that would cause plenty of injuries, and the dashboard was often made out of hard metal with protruding switches. I think Ralph Nader had a case as cars from the late sixties onwards tended to be a lot safer with recessed switches, collapsible steering columns and softer materials on the dashboard.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by FtoE »

Nothing I can find on the news sites yet but I heard on BBC 'Highland' this morning that the A82 is to be closed during daylight hours for two weeks next month south of Crianlarich to allow barrier repairs. This will mean a 55 mile diversion via Inverary / Rest and Be Thankful.
Altnabreac
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Altnabreac »

FtoE wrote:Nothing I can find on the news sites yet but I heard on BBC 'Highland' this morning that the A82 is to be closed during daylight hours for two weeks next month south of Crianlarich to allow barrier repairs. This will mean a 55 mile diversion via Inverary / Rest and Be Thankful.
https://trafficscotland.org/news/story.aspx?id=15114
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rileyrob
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by rileyrob »

Yes, this was mentioned at a meeting last night. Apparently the barrier to be replaced is effectively at the top of a precipitous drop into the loch, and it was deemed unsafe to work on when dark. The road is therefore to be closed during daylight hours (and a bit) for 2 and a bit weeks to maximise the safe working time. Whilst closed they are also planning substantial resurfacing, drainage works - with an aim to substantially reduce the flooding problems - and other major maintenance tasks which are not so easy with live traffic / in darkness.

There will be many who are up in arms about it, but our community feel that it is a very sensible solution to get some substantial medium term works done before the major rebuild starts (assuming it ever does). We just need to hope that the weather is good and that The Rest (A83) remains passable.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Robert Kilcoyne »

rileyrob wrote:Yes, this was mentioned at a meeting last night. Apparently the barrier to be replaced is effectively at the top of a precipitous drop into the loch, and it was deemed unsafe to work on when dark. The road is therefore to be closed during daylight hours (and a bit) for 2 and a bit weeks to maximise the safe working time. Whilst closed they are also planning substantial resurfacing, drainage works - with an aim to substantially reduce the flooding problems - and other major maintenance tasks which are not so easy with live traffic / in darkness.

There will be many who are up in arms about it, but our community feel that it is a very sensible solution to get some substantial medium term works done before the major rebuild starts (assuming it ever does). We just need to hope that the weather is good and that The Rest (A83) remains passable.
It would be a good idea for Traffic Scotland to erect temporary signage on the A74(M) / M74 south of Glasgow (and definitely before the Maryville Interchange) to advise long distance traffic heading for Fort William and Lochaber to use the M73 / M80 / M9 / A84 / A85 to Crianlarich, although many route planners would already suggest this as the preferred route. If the weather is poor next month and the A83 is closed, the only realistic alternative would be the A811 / A81 / A84 / A85.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by rileyrob »

Robert Kilcoyne wrote:It would be a good idea for Traffic Scotland ...
At the risk of offending some people on here, at last nights meeting there was (mock) shock at the common sense shown by Bear with these plans. I quote 'I thought Bear was some strange foreign language for "no common sense"'.
It was also noted, however, that Transerv in the same strange language, translated as "useless, lazy and lacking in common sense". :evil:
Traffic (and indeed Transport) Scotland do not have a good reputation for being useful either, although accepted that they all do a difficult job in often trying circumstances as rival local factions try to disrupt plans.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

Chris Bertram wrote:Lorries are still officially restricted to 40 on single carriageway roads in Scotland.
Makes no difference on the A75 - half of them don't seem to have working 56mph limiters!
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novaecosse
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by novaecosse »

Altnabreac wrote:
FtoE wrote:Nothing I can find on the news sites yet but I heard on BBC 'Highland' this morning that the A82 is to be closed during daylight hours for two weeks next month south of Crianlarich to allow barrier repairs. This will mean a 55 mile diversion via Inverary / Rest and Be Thankful.
https://trafficscotland.org/news/story.aspx?id=15114
BEAR Scotland website

emails of support gratefully received :wink:
Altnabreac
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Altnabreac »

novaecosse wrote:
Altnabreac wrote:
FtoE wrote:Nothing I can find on the news sites yet but I heard on BBC 'Highland' this morning that the A82 is to be closed during daylight hours for two weeks next month south of Crianlarich to allow barrier repairs. This will mean a 55 mile diversion via Inverary / Rest and Be Thankful.
https://trafficscotland.org/news/story.aspx?id=15114
BEAR Scotland website

emails of support gratefully received :wink:
No one can deny this stretch will benefit from some TLC.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by Glenn A »

I've heard the A85 from Perth to Crianlarich is dangerous, a narrow road that has been barely improved over the decades and is busy in the tourist season.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by KeithW »

rileyrob wrote:Yes, this was mentioned at a meeting last night. Apparently the barrier to be replaced is effectively at the top of a precipitous drop into the loch, and it was deemed unsafe to work on when dark. The road is therefore to be closed during daylight hours (and a bit) for 2 and a bit weeks to maximise the safe working time. Whilst closed they are also planning substantial resurfacing, drainage works - with an aim to substantially reduce the flooding problems - and other major maintenance tasks which are not so easy with live traffic / in darkness.

There will be many who are up in arms about it, but our community feel that it is a very sensible solution to get some substantial medium term works done before the major rebuild starts (assuming it ever does). We just need to hope that the weather is good and that The Rest (A83) remains passable.
That whole section is a bit of a nightmare and I am not surprised the barrier needs replacing from the amount of debris from wing mirrors to large pieces of vehicle that were on the other side or barriers and walls when I drove through in early July.
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Re: A82 from Glasgow to Fort William be Britain's worst road?

Post by KeithW »

Glenn A wrote:I've heard the A85 from Perth to Crianlarich is dangerous, a narrow road that has been barely improved over the decades and is busy in the tourist season.
I have driven it a few times and it never impressed me as particularly dangerous. The section along Loch Earn has narrow twisty bits but providing you keep you speed to sensible level its no worse than many other rural roads.
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