Inappropriate snow gate closures to prevent travel

[haggishunter]

This afternoon both the A93 Cairnwell Pass and the A939 over the Lecht can be seen to completely clear and black on all the traffic and ski area webcams, yet the snow gates on both roads remain closed. Indeed I think the A939 has been closed for around 10 days now.

Under what legal powers do the police have authority to close the gates? They can't just be kept closed because the police do not wish to patrol the routes or do not wish the public to travel as closure is preventing people with essential travel making journeys or forcing in what will in some cases be completely unnecessarily but fairly extreme diversions. The A93 is used by a fair amount of HGV traffic which presumably is still by and large operating despite the current lockdown.

The closure of the CairnGorm ski road which is an adopted public road to the entrance of the Coire Cas carpark for the operational convinence of CairnGorm Mountain Limited is itself not acceptable, but if the police are keeping A roads closed to restrict access to the mountains for allowed outdoor recreation and exercise that is an order of magnitude more unacceptable than the CairnGorm situation.

So what is going on, it's not as if the roads are not being cleared and gritted they are, but are still remaining closed?

[KeithW]

This afternoon both the A93 Cairnwell Pass and the A939 over the Lecht can be seen to completely clear and black on all the traffic and ski area webcams, yet the snow gates on both roads remain closed. Indeed I think the A939 has been closed for around 10 days now.

Under what legal powers do the police have authority to close the gates? They can't just be kept closed because the police do not wish to patrol the routes or do not wish the public to travel as closure is preventing people with essential travel making journeys or forcing in what will in some cases be completely unnecessarily but fairly extreme diversions. The A93 is used by a fair amount of HGV traffic which presumably is still by and large operating despite the current lockdown.

The closure of the CairnGorm ski road which is an adopted public road to the entrance of the Coire Cas carpark for the operational convinence of CairnGorm Mountain Limited is itself not acceptable, but if the police are keeping A roads closed to restrict access to the mountains for allowed outdoor recreation and exercise that is an order of magnitude more unacceptable than the CairnGorm situation.

So what is going on, it's not as if the roads are not being cleared and gritted they are, but are still remaining closed?

The centre is closed due to Covid-19 and Scotland's lockdown rules do not appear to provide an exemption for taking a walk in the Cairngorms. You may think its closure is not acceptable but others including the public health authorities do not. As for essential travel feel free to show which essential routes are closed.

The snow sports and other facilities at Cairngorm, including toilets, are to close at 3pm on 24 December until further notice. The Board of Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Limited (CMSL) has taken the decision after considering the First Minister’s statement on Saturday that further COVID-19 restrictions will apply from Boxing Day. The company is also consulting with Police Scotland and Highland Council on whether the ski road between Hayfield and Cairngorm should remain closed to ensure the safety of the public on a challenging road in winter conditions.

We are very disappointed to be in this position, but firmly believe it is the right course of action in light of the First Minister’s statement and for the safety of our colleagues, visitors and the local community. We will retain a small team on site for care and maintenance, while we await further notice from the First Minister regarding a relaxation of the restrictions. In the meantime, we would like to thank our customers and stakeholders for their understanding, wish them all a very happy Christmas and look forward to welcoming them back to Cairngorm Mountain, to enjoy winter snow sports, when the restrictions are eased.

Susan Smith, Interim Chief Executive, Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd

A quick check showed the A93 and A939 snow gates are closed due to adverse weather conditions, snow in January in Glenshee - what a shocker.
https://trafficscotland.org/weather/ind ... &b=c281022
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.88875 ... authuser=0

[swissferry]

I don't think the closures are inappropriate. From PKC's traffic camera it looked like there was easily a couple of feet of snow at the top of the Cairnwell Pass on the A93. SAIS' blog suggests there could have been drifting snow as well. Spotted the snow blower in action on the camera about 13:30. Snow depths looked a little less than in this video. Even if the road appears black now (well done) I'm not surprised if it remains closed for safety until morning. There may be ice or blowing snow which is not ideal on a long steep (10-12%) hill. From experience the descent can be scary when you suddenly change from doing 60 on black tarmac to trying to gently slow down when the road is suddenly covered in several inches on snow. It isn't unusual for the road to remain closed until morning.

The ski centre assists in road clearing. Even though they are closed due to covid restrictions I presume they will still be assisting with clearance to allow ongoing maintenance and to allow the slopes to reopen as soon as they are allowed. Though maybe they will have a little less incentive than when paying customers are queueing at the gates at Spittal of Glenshee.

It also not unusual for the A939 to be closed for weeks at least on one side of the Lecht. It has steeper gradients and sharper bends than the A93.

[Nwallace]

It's not uncommon for the A93 to look nice and clear at the Spittal and Braemar and blocked by drifting snow higher up.

Can't remember when I last came across an HGV on the A93 either, even the Co-Op daily sandwich deliver lorry doesn't go that way as it starts from a sandwich factory in Dundee.

[swissferry]

Seen a surprising number of HGVs on the A93. Was stuck behind a Polish one last year for many slow miles. It was generally well over the white lines so I only got passed when the driver pulled over.

[haggishunter]

It's not uncommon for the A93 to look nice and clear at the Spittal and Braemar and blocked by drifting snow higher up.

Can't remember when I last came across an HGV on the A93 either, even the Co-Op daily sandwich deliver lorry doesn't go that way as it starts from a sandwich factory in Dundee.

The A93 was black throughout including at the summit not just at the lower level snowgates. Spend time around the base at Glenshee Ski Area and you might be surprised at the number of HGVs which pass through - fully laden timber artics are a particularly frequent occurrence in recent times. There are quite a number of hacked off locals that need to make trips and unnecessary closures of these roads is a PITA, it would be a bit more understandable if snow clearing was stood down until breaks in the weather due to lighter traffic, but the roads are being cleared regularly but seem to remain closed.

Walking / climbing or ski touring in the Cairngorms is perfectly fine under current restrictions if you are from a relevant local authority for the bit you are starting out from, a short walk would be stretching the spirit admittedly because that could be done from your door. But if you want to go winter climbing or ski touring, well those activities have needs more likely to be found on the higher mountains and you can travel within your local authority (and up to 5 miles from it's boundary) to start such an activity. Police are dropping into relevant carparks fairly regularly to see what is going on and if people are about checking where they have come from to check their not taking the wee wee out of the travel rules!

[KeithW]

Walking / climbing or ski touring in the Cairngorms is perfectly fine under current restrictions if you are from a relevant local authority for the bit you are starting out from, a short walk would be stretching the spirit admittedly because that could be done from your door. But if you want to go winter climbing or ski touring, well those activities have needs more likely to be found on the higher mountains and you can travel within your local authority (and up to 5 miles from it's boundary) to start such an activity. Police are dropping into relevant carparks fairly regularly to see what is going on and if people are about checking where they have come from to check their not taking the wee wee out of the travel rules!

This is not accurate the previous restrictions based on levels are suspended and a Lockdown is in place.

Travelling around Scotland
At present, unless you live in certain island communities (outlined above):

you must, by law, stay at home unless you have a reasonable excuse (see exceptions)
if you have to travel for essential purposes, you should follow the guidance on travelling safely
you should also keep journeys within the area to an absolute minimum.

Here is the guidance on exercise :

Although you can travel for these purposes, you should stay as close to home as possible. For example, shop on-line or use local shops and services wherever you can. Travel no further than you need to reach to a safe, non-crowded place to exercise in a socially distanced way.

Is there nowhere closer than the Cairngorms where you could exercise ? Even Aviemore is 7 miles as the crow flies from the Ski Centre. I am sympathetic, normally I would be taking a stroll on a deserted beach at Coatham or Marske but here in North Yorkshire, which is pretty open country. the police are fining people for driving to the moors and beaches to exercise. Given that the local hospital has 80% of its intensive care beds occupied by people seriously ill with Covid-19 I can understand it.

[Hdeng16]

Opinions on COVID regulations are irrelevant. There is nothing in the Scottish legislation (or the English) to close roads for this purpose.

I assume gates are closed for longer because there’s less staff to clear, less staff to confirm it remains clear or less staff available to keep opening and shutting gates. So there are plenty of indirect reasons why coronavirus may be the cause but it certainly should not be a direct cause - there is no legal basis to do so

[KeithW]

Opinions on COVID regulations are irrelevant. There is nothing in the Scottish legislation (or the English) to close roads for this purpose.

I assume gates are closed for longer because there’s less staff to clear, less staff to confirm it remains clear or less staff available to keep opening and shutting gates. So there are plenty of indirect reasons why coronavirus may be the cause but it certainly should not be a direct cause - there is no legal basis to do so

Agreed, in fact keeping roads open is a major priority, that's how food gets to supermarkets and their customers after all so I dont expect to see much reduction in HGV traffic.

[haggishunter]

This is not accurate the previous restrictions based on levels are suspended and a Lockdown is in place.

This is not actually the case - the bulk of the restrictions are from mainland Scotland being in level 4 lockdown which has been the case since 26th December. A temporary statutory instrument has added additional and tighter restrictions to level 4 for the current lockdown, which is effectively Level 4++, it would actually have been cleaner to have added a Level 5 - Stay at Home Lockdown'.

However the legal position on travel restrictions has not changed - you can travel within your local authority and so far as exercise goes to a point up to 5 miles from the boundary of your own local authority providing you start and finish at the same location. Travel for exercise is expressly one of the permitted purposes in Scotland - this is quite distinct from what I understand the legal situation to be in England?

Police enforce the law not guidance, but they would likely have quite a stern chat if you say you are on the A9 because you are travelling from Inverness to Glenmore for a 10 minute stroll on the beach for exercise, when it could be reasonably construed that you could have said walk around the Ness Islands instead of travelling 30 miles. Ski Touring for downhill descents or winter climbing obviously could not be undertaken on the Ness Islands, though snow permitting they could well be undertaken closer to home, guidance from relevant bodies recommends staying more in your comfort zone than normal and preferably visiting familiar terrain for mountain activities at this time.

It was expressly the intent that this lockdown (nor the original level 4 before it) would not be as restrictive on travel for exercise and outdoor recreation as in the spring. Tennis Clubs and Golf Courses (subject to courses being playable) remain open. The ski areas are under review, there was a specific problem flagged by Test & Protect with people from different households car sharing to travel to them, rather than any issue with or evidence of transmission resulting from mountain operations.

Anyway this is drifting ( ) from the original which was really an enquiry as to under what powers the police close the snow gates. Anyway it looks as if some of the local noise about it has been heard as both the A93 and A939 are open at the same time for the first time since around 10 days, either that or some key holders have taken matters into their own hands!