OS 1:250k OpenData - A859

[dprior7770]

I am continually surprised to see the OS 1:250k OpenData mapping showing the A859 just north of Clisham/An Cliseam, by Aird a' Mhulaidh, as S1, right up to the 2021 edition. As I understand, Western Isles Council widened this stretch to double-track online around 2006-07, the last piece of single track of the Lewis/Harris spine road between Stornoway and Tarbert. When I drove this in 2018, the stretch of road was S2 (and I have the dashcam footage to verify!).

A simple mistake, or a copyright trap?

[swissferry]

Holidayed regularly in the Western Isles in the past. The S1 road was twisty and hilly. For a number of years there was a sudden change from S2 to S1 where the southbound lane ended just over a brow of a hill with a nastily located boulder.

I believe the last S1 stretch was removed sometime between Aug 2002 and Nov 2003.

In Nov 2003 I was staying in Carloway, Lewis. There was freezing rain on the Sunday night. The roads were covered with a sheet of ice. Walking back to the croft from church I couldn't even walk up more than a gentle slope. I was booked on the dawn ferry from Tarbert. I had some trepidation regarding the 40-odd mile drive on a dark, unfenced (think sheep), twisty, relative unfamiliar, hilly road which was covered in ice - particularly the S1 stretch. Left Carloway very early but the ice had melted and the S1 stretch was now S2. Ended up with a very long wait for the ferry.

Think I would have said the road was widened to S2 partially online. The S2 rarely deviates far from where the S1 was. But it is a lot straighter and leveller. Much of the S1 is still visible.

The road remains stunning, but then that can be said about almost any stretch of road in Harris.

[Steven]

A simple mistake, or a copyright trap?

I suspect just a mistake, but it is an interesting one!