A855 Road Closure, Trotternish Peninsula, Isle of Skye

Thanks for this useful update and that is going to be helpful for my next adventure.

Just to note also that the 'short cut' via the Quiraing is to be avoided at all costs as that road currently has roadworks and people trying to avoid the long, official, diversion have been causing chaos on the Quiraing road. The only vehicles able to use the closed section are emergency services and the school bus.

The road is now open

So a lot of fuss and no real need for the original post?

Wasleys,

FYI the landslide was on Friday (from memory), and seemed to be something or nothing as it was the side of the embankment onto a minor road below, not a fall onto the road itself as far as I have seen.. Then it took longer than expected to be declared safe and on Monday was announced as no known opening date, including by Stagecoach. Thus the post.

I had expected @Skyegirl to post over the weekend. But the first duty is to give information to other people out there to be helpful (especially if people saw Uig without knowing where Idrigill is). Likewise the re-opening was announced late afternoon yesterday, but I decided to wait for @Skyegirl to post the all clear.

It looks like they've placed a load of stone onto the slipped slope to retain it, and decided there is no further risk of the slip spreading onto the main carriageway from pictures I have seen.

So yes the post was reasonable, and I don't accept being chided for it.

Just for context, the road slip from the A855 fell onto a minor road below, but undermined the surface of the A855. This was a big deal for residents and visitors to Skye as the A855 is the main road around the top of the Trotternish peninsula and also provides access to the Quiraing from the west (Uig) side of the Trotternish. The road had to be closed because the integrity of the A855 could not be guaranteed and there was risk of further landslips.

This road closure caused considerable chaos over the weekend because there are still many visitors on the island at the moment, most of whom want to visit the Trotternish and the Quiraing. Many people were trying to use the Quiraing road as a short cut to get from Staffin to the west side of the Trotternish without having to use the official diversion routes via Portree for locations south of Idrigill and via Kilmuir and Duntulm for places on the north of the Trotternish.

The Quiraing road also has roadworks at the moment which added to the delays and general chaos. I understand from a friend who works at one of the local garages, that their recovery vehicle was kept fully occupied over the weekend!

Highland Council road crews worked miracles over the weekend and managed to shore up the landslip area with a heck of a lot of rocks. Surveyors have said the A855 is safe (for now) and thus the road was reopened.

While it might not seem a big deal to those not in Skye, it initially seemed as though the road could be closed for weeks if not months, and it was already having a major impact on those here (residents and visitors), so I can certainly see the sense in Stuart's original post to warn those intending to visit Skye in the near future.