09-01-10 Argyll and Bute Council Causing Unnecessary Road Detour

Jumping the gun a wee bit on Grogport Hill.

That is what I said to Julian Green (Tech Support Roads Dept) on my call to him on Thursday evening.This closure would be to protect them for not gritting properly against anyone going off the road and getting hurt.

On receiving phone calls and e-mails from some Grogport residents on Friday morning I was told the road is passable with due care and attention which most locals do when driving in these winter conditions.That is not A&B roads dept thoughts as they closed the road on Thursday.
The only vehicles to go off the road days before were the gritter lorry,some others whom did not take advice on due care,a delivery van was one whom i talked to on the Thursday on his way up the glen and the odd visitor.
I drove up the road on Friday after midday and encountered no problems,Groport hill had no snow or ice at all.The village residents had done a great job of gritting the hilly area themselves which is clear as seen on the photos.
The only stretch to drive with due care was the top of Cnoc Reamhar for about 300metres down to to Barmolloch (top right pic), the rest was ok.The worst part of the road up to Friday was from Lag Kilmichael to Brackley junction but because of a funeral service at Brackley cemetery the gritter had to come up Friday morning and without sparing,heavily gritted from The Glen Bar and Restaurant to the cemetery.


The photos show the conditions and road signs.On returning to Carradale on Saturday evening from Glasgow the first you know of the road closed is a sign at the Cloanaig ferry junction meaning you have driven all the way from Redhouse junction to be told this and need to turn back. Check out further discussions on the Kintyre Forum HERE.

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