A83 Rest and Be Thankful road closure: EIR release

Information requested

1. I would like to know the total estimated number of days that traffic has been single tracked with traffic lights on the A83 Rest and be Thankful, for each year between 2010/11 – 2019/20. Should this exceed the FOI cost limit, I would be happy to accept an estimate from a shorter timescale as appropriate.

2. I would like to know the total estimated number of days that the A83 Rest and Be Thankful has been closed, a traffic diverted through the Old Military Road, for each year between 2010/11 – 2019/20. Should this exceed the FOI cost limit, I would be happy to accept an estimate from a shorter timescale as appropriate.

3. I would like to know the total estimated number of days that both the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and Old Military Road have been closed, and traffic diverted via the A82, A85 and A819, for each year between 2010/11 – 2019/20. Should this exceed the FOI cost limit, I would be happy to accept an estimate from a shorter timescale as appropriate.

4. I would like to know the total estimated number of days that the A83 Rest and Be Thankful, the Old Military Road, and the A82, A85 and A819 diversion route have been closed, for each year between 2010/11 – 2019/20. Should this exceed the FOI cost limit, I would be happy to accept an estimate from a shorter timescale as appropriate.

5. I would like to know the total estimated number of days that the Old Military Road beside the A83 Rest and Be Thankful been closed waiting for accident investigators from Police Scotland, for each year between 2015/2016 – 2019/20.

6. I would like to know how long on average has the A83 been closed waiting for accident investigators from Police Scotland, for each year between 2015/16 – 2019/20.

On the 17 December you also clarified that, with regard to point 4 above, you were "looking for the number of days that the A83 Rest and Be Thankful, the Old Military Road, and the A82, A85 and A819 diversion route have been closed at the same time for each year between 2010/11 – 2019/20."

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

1. 

Financial Year	Days with temporary traffic lights
2010/11	0
2011/12	0
2012/13	0
2013/14	0
2014/15	0
2015/16	0
2016/17	0
2017/18	155
2018/19	365
2019/20	309

2.  

Financial Year	No of Days A83 RaBT closed	No of days OMR in operation	No of nights OMR in operation
2010/11	0	0	0
2011/12	5	0	0
2012/13	4.5	0	0
2013/14	6	5	5
2014/15	5	5	7
2015/16	5	3.5	0
2016/17	0	0	0
2017/18	0	0	0
2018/19	9	3.5	2
2019/20	2.5	2	2

 

3. 

Financial Year	No. of Days both A83 RaBT & OMR Closed with Diversion Route in operation
2010/11	0
2011/12	5
2012/13	4.5
2013/14	1
2014/15	0
2015/16	1.5
2016/17	0
2017/18	0
2018/19	5.5
2019/20	0.5

4. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. We do not have the information you have requested because we do not hold records of when the whole standard diversion route was closed at the same time as the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and Old Military Road.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about road closures, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

5/6. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. We do not have the information you have requested because we do not hold records of when accident investigators from Police Scotland are called to attend the site or when they arrive.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about accident investigations, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

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