I AGREE with UK highway policy of going around hills rather than the continental way of going from tunnel to viaduct. However, road design is about best value for money. The policy adopted for the Rest and be Thankful seems flawed.

The problem on The Rest is not landslips (“Rest and Be Thankful to stay shut over safety fears”, The Herald, October 11). It is soil-creep and/or debris flow which will be a constant maintenance problem until the mountain is cleared of loose material from the summit downwards.

This is one location where an expensive tunnel could be more cost-effective than traffic disruption and annual maintenance work in perpetuity.

Mike Rayworth,

The Steadings, Invercreran, Appin, Argyll.

SURPRISE, surprise, an open-weave large-holed cable net did not manage to stop the many landslips on the Rest and-be Thankful. I could not believe what I was seeing as I drove past the works, over the last years, and could not see how it would work. The net would hold back trees, but there are none on these slopes, it certainly did not stop muddy slips.

In the Alps and the Pyrenees they would have built a steep sloping roof over an open-sided tunnel, which would allow landslips to slide over. This combined with shrub and tree planting would help stabilise the slope and ease the problem.

When you combine this problem road, with a potential blockage on the very poor road on Loch Lomond, from Tarbet to the top of the loch, it could cut off nearly all access to the west of Scotland, from Campbeltown to Fort William.

The people of Scotland have been let down badly by successive governments not seriously tackling these two major problems roads.

Iain Barclay,

Barochan Road, Houston.

WHEN the A83 is blocked it is always reported that a 60-mile diversion is required. In fact from Kintyre and Inverary the additional mileage to Glasgow via Tyndrum is 25 miles and to Edinburgh 10 miles. It would benefit business in these areas if this was emphasised more.

The proposed solutions to the problem – canopies, tunnels and the like – would, apart from the expense, cause much more disruption in the construction phase than the occasional landslide. Debris still has to be cleared from catch fences and would have to be from canopies. This would be much more difficult than removing it from the carriageway.

Landslides blocking roads occur in many countries and having an efficient clear-up operation in place is the most practical solution

Alexander Johnston,

29 Bourne Crescent, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire.