A82 road
|
|
The A82 is the major road to the western Scottish Highlands, running from Glasgow to Inverness.
The A82 begins in the Charing Cross area of Central Glasgow, before threading through the city's fashionable West End. Glasgow's famous "Boulevard" (officially known as Great Western Road), is in fact the urban section of the A82. As it threads through the north west of the city, it passes through Kelvinside, Anniesland, Clydebank and Dumbarton before turning north to head up the western shore of Loch Lomond. At Tarbet it splits, leaving the A83 to continue to the west. (The A83 passes through the similarly named Tarbert before eventually arriving at Campbeltown, its ultimate destination).
From Tarbet, the A82 then leads through Crianlarich and Tyndrum, where it splits again. The A85 continues west to Oban.
The A82 continues north and passes the western fringes of Rannoch Moor, and through the spectacular Glen Coe. The road then runs through Fort William, then follows the Caledonian Canal northeast through Fort Augustus and up the western shore of Loch Ness before ending in Inverness.
Some statistics (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1824466.stm) seem to show that the A82 between Tarbet and Tyndrum is the third most dangerous road in Scotland. While the high level on accidents on some roads is open to debate, the cause on this stretch of the A82 is fairly evident. The road follows the edge of Loch Lomond, and is frequently narrow with many hairpin bends. Drivers unfamiliar with the road often do not realise that they cannot share these bends with any vehicle larger than their own. Because this is a major tourist route, there is no shortage of drivers unfamiliar with the road, and large vehicles such as coaches to share it with. Unfortunately, the road is squeezed between railway and loch, with hill sides rising steeply, so improvement of the road will be costly, and may lead to objections on environmental grounds.