Complete Scotland's roads....

[Blatso]

The Checkbar Roundabout (M876 J1) needs upgrading (possibly shift it to under the motorway), off slip going EB has a really sharp corner and meeting an unclassified road. The UC road meets right at the end of the corner. Sometimes at peak times the queues almost reach the previous junction 1 mile away.
GIve Denny its own junction on the M80. One is up at Haggs and M9 traffic has to go out of its way to the Pirnhall (following the motorway) or head to the Checkbar
Also, upgrade the A9 from Keir to Broxden up to M9 and GS both roundabouts.

[clc]

Was doing some googling to find out if any further progress had been made on the A832 and found this Facebook entry stating that Wills Bros were about to start construction of Slattadale Phase 2 which will widen 600 metres of single track road:-

https://m.facebook.com/torridonandkinlo ... 384264500/

[TomJ]

Was doing some googling to find out if any further progress had been made on the A832 and found this Facebook entry stating that Wills Bros were about to start construction of Slattadale Phase 2 which will widen 600 metres of single track road:-

https://m.facebook.com/torridonandkinlo ... 384264500/

Seems odd to me that they're only doing that small section above the loch... The times I've driven it, the section just to the west has seemed in just as much need of improvement of not more, even if it's not quite as easy to complete due to the rock faces.

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

[clc]

Was doing some googling to find out if any further progress had been made on the A832 and found this Facebook entry stating that Wills Bros were about to start construction of Slattadale Phase 2 which will widen 600 metres of single track road:-

https://m.facebook.com/torridonandkinlo ... 384264500/

Seems odd to me that they're only doing that small section above the loch... The times I've driven it, the section just to the west has seemed in just as much need of improvement of not more, even if it's not quite as easy to complete due to the rock faces.

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

That’s phase 3:

Phase 3 will involve the creation of a completely new section of road, almost 5km in length, from Loch Bad an Sgalaig across the hills and preliminary design work for this is currently underway.

https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/articl ... lly_opened

[clc]

Highland Council submitted a bid to Round 1 of the levelling up fund to upgrade sections of the NC500. The bid was unsuccessful but feedback from the UK Government indicated that the bid had merit but required additional work. The council is preparing to resubmit the bid within Round 2 with some small changes to reflect the feedback received.

The main widening projects included in the bid are:-

A890 Balnacra to Lair - 5.8km of new alignment.

A896 Kishorn to Lochcarron - 8km strip widening.

A836 between Naver Bridge and B871 Junction - 2.6km, partially on new alignment.

A836 Braetongue to Rhitongue - 600m strip widening.

A832 between Clash Wood and Glen Ord - 500m strip widening.

There’s an interactive map:
https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/i ... 5ae5011091

[jnty]

Highland Council submitted a bid to Round 1 of the levelling up fund to upgrade sections of the NC500. The bid was unsuccessful but feedback from the UK Government indicated that the bid had merit but required additional work. The council is preparing to resubmit the bid within Round 2 with some small changes to reflect the feedback received.

The main widening projects included in the bid are:-

A890 Balnacra to Lair - 5.8km of new alignment.

A896 Kishorn to Lochcarron - 8km strip widening.

A836 between Naver Bridge and B871 Junction - 2.6km, partially on new alignment.

A836 Braetongue to Rhitongue - 600m strip widening.

A832 between Clash Wood and Glen Ord - 500m strip widening.

There’s an interactive map:
https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/i ... 5ae5011091

Some of this would obviously be desirable for local/existing tourist traffic prior to the NC500 boom, but it does seem a bit weird that an extremely successful tourism initiative is now (potentially) absorbing funds ostensibly intended for boosting deprived communities. We are often told how much money this tourism brings in - surely it should either be essentially self-funding or the high-profile promotion efforts which sustain the boom ought to be reduced?

Another thing to get on the UK local government funding soapbox about..?

[Starling]

The A890 is quite bizarre the way it changes from single track at the western end to high quality S2. If the remaining single track sections were upgraded more people heading for Inverness would start using it, taking the pressure off the A82. It seems to be only locals who use the A890 at the moment which is a shame as the section east of Lair is a cracking drive. The fact that police caught a Porsche driver doing 140mph gives you an idea of the quality of the alignment. And barely any traffic on it.

Parts of that road got nice EU funding, & yes done that & the A832 & A896 which again are similar, & some of the transitions are very bad, one is the end of a nice new straight & then goes to a S1 with a sharp left hand bend over a bridge.

Another bad road which has more traffic is the A86, S1/S2 & very twisty in parts

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.03214 ... 312!8i6656


If all these "A" roads were proper S2 (like the nice EU parts on the A890) it would decrease the accident rates & congestion due to farm traffic, blind corners etc.

The A86 is simultaneously one of my most and least favourite roads. It has some great scenery, and can be a joy to drive in places when it's quiet, but can be a bit scary on the S1 and lochside sections, and it can be frustrating when it's busy.

The A86 can be a nightmare to drive on in the summer, I've nearly had a few accidents on it over the years. Cars come around corners really fast and because there are no road markings they end up almost in the middle of the road and have to swerve back to their own side at the last minute.

A lot of HGVs use the A86 and I have been stuck behind them for a long time, when two HGVs coming in opposite directions meet it takes them a long time to get past each other.

There are lots of parts where the verges at the side of the road are collapsing because so many cars end up driving on the verges because the road is so narrow, big furrows down the side of the road.

It is really strange that they have never properly widened the whole road and put markings down the middle, most of the narrow parts have flat land on either side so it wouldn't be difficult to widen it from an engineering perspective.

As they dual more of the A9 from Dalwhinne to Perth more and more traffic heading to the Highlands will start using the A86 rather than the A82, so there will be more of a need to make the A86 into a road of a proper width with lines between each lane.

[SteelCamel]

Some of this would obviously be desirable for local/existing tourist traffic prior to the NC500 boom, but it does seem a bit weird that an extremely successful tourism initiative is now (potentially) absorbing funds ostensibly intended for boosting deprived communities. We are often told how much money this tourism brings in - surely it should either be essentially self-funding or the high-profile promotion efforts which sustain the boom ought to be reduced?

It does bring in money - I don't know how much, compared to the cost of these road improvements. How would you suggest that that money is made available to improve the roads? The obvious way would be to tax the businesses taking in the money, and give that tax money to the Council to pay for building the roads. Which is exactly what's happening.

[IAN]

Highland Council submitted a bid to Round 1 of the levelling up fund to upgrade sections of the NC500. The bid was unsuccessful but feedback from the UK Government indicated that the bid had merit but required additional work. The council is preparing to resubmit the bid within Round 2 with some small changes to reflect the feedback received.

The main widening projects included in the bid are:-

A890 Balnacra to Lair - 5.8km of new alignment.

A896 Kishorn to Lochcarron - 8km strip widening.

A836 between Naver Bridge and B871 Junction - 2.6km, partially on new alignment.

A836 Braetongue to Rhitongue - 600m strip widening.

A832 between Clash Wood and Glen Ord - 500m strip widening.

There’s an interactive map:
https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/i ... 5ae5011091

Does 'strip widening' mean widening from S1 to S2 or doing something less than that? The A836 Braetongue to Rhitongue is a good candidate for widening. The frequent changes between S1 and S2 in that area make the road somewhat dangerous.

[clc]

Highland Council submitted a bid to Round 1 of the levelling up fund to upgrade sections of the NC500. The bid was unsuccessful but feedback from the UK Government indicated that the bid had merit but required additional work. The council is preparing to resubmit the bid within Round 2 with some small changes to reflect the feedback received.

The main widening projects included in the bid are:-

A890 Balnacra to Lair - 5.8km of new alignment.

A896 Kishorn to Lochcarron - 8km strip widening.

A836 between Naver Bridge and B871 Junction - 2.6km, partially on new alignment.

A836 Braetongue to Rhitongue - 600m strip widening.

A832 between Clash Wood and Glen Ord - 500m strip widening.

There’s an interactive map:
https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/i ... 5ae5011091

Does 'strip widening' mean widening from S1 to S2 or doing something less than that? The A836 Braetongue to Rhitongue is a good candidate for widening. The frequent changes between S1 and S2 in that area make the road somewhat dangerous.

It does mean widening to S2 but without changing the alignment. So a twisty/undulating S1 would still be twisty/undulating after the upgrade, but would be wider.

[clc]

A832 Slattadale Phase 2 has opened: https://youtu.be/UgUE4N9MKEM