Engineers assess A82 rockfall site
THE busy A82 trunk road remained partially blocked near Drumnadrochit yesterday after a rockfall reduced the route to a single lane.
Engineers were still busy inspecting the stability of the slope as the Courier went to print.
Temporary traffic lights have been in operation at the site since a falling tree triggered a wider rockfall just south of the loch-side village on Wednesday.
Motorists have been warned to expect some disruption and plan their trip accordingly, with engineers warning that the lights may remain in place until they can fully assess the hillside's stability.
Alex Macleod, Forestry Enterprise Scotland's (FES) operations manager, said: "We appreciate that this will be a cause of some inconvenience to all of the road users that make use of this route but we hope that people will understand that after an incident of this sort it is imperative that we make this section of hillside safe.
"Once we have the results of the inspection, we will have a better idea of what will be required in terms of rock stabilisation and tree felling in order to make safe the hillside.
"We will keep people informed of our next steps and are liaising with Bear Scotland, and the Traffic Scotland website will advise on further traffic safety measures.
"Our long-term work along the A82 to fell the ageing woodland will greatly reduce the likelihood of such incidents occurring and will help make the road safer for everyone."
The incident took place at Grotaig, midway between Urquhart Castle and Alltsigh.
The tree and rocks originated from the National Forest Estate but FES stressed the scene was not in the vicinity of its recent FES felling operations.
