The Highland Council is to produce a report on a rock cutting operation which last year saw the closing of a major road.

The A890 Stromeferry road which runs on the south side of Loch Carron was closed following a major rock fall on 22 December last year, creating a 140 mile diversion for local traffic.

The Council had established alternative transport links while the stabilisation works were being undertaken. The road then reopened on 23 April 2012.

Now URS Infrastructure and Environment UK have been appointed by the Council to identify potential solutions to the rock cutting in order to avoid similar incidents in the future.

-- Advertisement --

URS will be holding meetings with stakeholders and the Council in order to consider all options as part of a STAG (Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance) report.

The findings will be reported through a series of public meetings in Spring 2013.

An appraisal report will then be prepared by Spring 2014, after which a preferred option can be selected.

Chairman of The Council’s TEC Services Committee, Councillor Graham Philips said: "When I visited the local communities affected I gave them the reassurance that they would be consulted throughout the whole process. It is really important that we work closely with all stakeholders as we all realise that delivering a permanent solution is going to be a complex project. The appointment of URS is evidence that we are keeping our promise to deliver a solution. We can now look forward to progress being made with stage one of the process, and to our next round of consultations."

(IT)