View source for A830 road

{{Short description|Road in the Scottish Highlands}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2022}}
{{Redirect|Road to the Isles|the song|The Road to the Isles}}
{{Infobox road
|country=GBR
|type=A
|route=830
|alternate_name='''The road to the Isles'''
|image=The Glasnacardoch turning off the A830 - geograph.org.uk - 1291636.jpg
|image_notes=The A830 between [[Arisaig]] and [[Mallaig]]
|header_type=minor
|length_mi=46
|direction_a= West
|terminus_a = [[Mallaig]]
|direction_b= East
|terminus_b = [[Fort William, Highland|Fort William]]
|junction = {{jct|country=GBR|A|82|name1= }}<br />{{jct|country=GBR|A|861|name1= }}
|destinations=
|previous_type = A
|next_type = A
|previous_route = 828
|next_route = 831
}}

The '''A830''', also known as the '''Road to the Isles''' (though it forms only a part of the historic route) is a major road in [[Lochaber]], [[Scottish Highlands]]. It connects the town of [[Fort William, Scotland|Fort William]] to the port of [[Mallaig]].

==Route==
The A830 is 46 miles long. Throughout its length, the road follows the route of the [[West Highland Line]] from Fort William to Mallaig. It starts at a junction on the [[A82 road|A82]] north of [[Fort William, Highland|Fort William]] and immediately crosses the River Lochy over the Victoria Bridge. The road passes through several small settlements, including [[Corpach]], [[Glenfinnan]] and [[Arisaig]] and bypasses the village of [[Morar]]. It also follows the shorelines of [[Loch Eil]] and [[Loch Eilt]], and passes between a series of several glens between these.<ref name=os40/><ref name=os41/><ref>{{cite book |title=Scotland Highlands & Islands Footprint Handbook |first=Alan |last=Murphy |publisher=Footprint |page=221 |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-909-26862-3}}</ref>

The road ends at the quayside in the port of Mallaig adjacent to [[Mallaig railway station|the railway station]] with onward ferry services to the isles of [[Muck, Scotland|Muck]], [[Eigg]], [[Rùm]], [[Canna, Scotland|Canna]], [[Skye]] and [[South Uist]], and a ferry across to the neighbouring peninsula at [[Inverie]] which although on the mainland has no other road access.<ref name=os40>{{cite map |title=Mallaig & Glenfinnan (inc. Loch Shiel) |publisher=Ordnance Survey |scale=1:50 000 |series=Landranger |id=40 |year=2015}}</ref><ref name=os41>{{cite map |title=Ben Nevis (inc. Fort William & Glen Coe) |publisher=Ordnance Survey |scale=1:50 000 |series=Landranger |id=41 |year=2015}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Larichmore Viaduct and the A830 - geograph.org.uk - 37338.jpg|thumb|The A830 next to [[Larichmore Viaduct]] in 2005, when it was still a [[single track road|single-track]] road]]
The historic Road to the Isles is an ancient [[drove road]] which leaves [[General Wade]]'s military road from [[Stirling]] to [[Inverness]] at [[Tummel Bridge]], along the northern banks of the [[River Tummel]] and [[Loch Rannoch]] roughly along the present day B846. Where today's road runs out the old road continued over [[Rannoch Moor]] past [[Corrour Old Lodge]] towards [[Kings House Hotel|Kings House]] on the [[A82 road|A82]], over the [[Aonach Eagach#Devil's Staircase|Devil's Staircase]] and past [[Kinlochleven]], to meet the present A830 at Fort William.

Before the 19th century, there was no established road beyond Glenfinnan. The area beyond this to Mallaig was known as the Na Garbh-Chriochain (The Rough Bounds) and was part of the Lordship of the Isles of [[Clan Donald]], then part of the estates of [[Clan Macdonald of Clanranald]]. In 1803, [[Thomas Telford]] campaigned for government funding to build a "Parliamentary Road" across the estate from Banavie and Corpach towards Arisaig. The road was described as the "Loch-na-Gaul" road.<ref name=scotsman>{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/opening-up-the-road-to-the-isles-1-684873 |title=Opening up the road to the isles |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=7 March 2007|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref>

The road was constructed by [[Thomas Telford]] in the early 19th century. It remained a [[single-track road]] throughout most of the 20th century, with the final section being upgraded in 2009. As the Road to the Isles, it has been celebrated as a historic part of Scottish culture.

In the late 1930s, a proposal was put forward in parliament to extend the A830 along the coast of the mainland as far as [[Kyle of Lochalsh]]. This was dismissed as being prohibitively expensive and of little practical use.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1939/mar/22/road-facilities-west-coast-of-scotland#S5CV0345P0_19390322_HOC_227 |title=Road Facilities, West Coast of Scotland |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=22 March 1939|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref>

The road was predominantly [[single track road|single-track]] until the late 20th century. By 1954, a {{convert|6|long ton|tonne|adj=on}} weight limit had been imposed on the road.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1954/feb/10/fort-william-mallaig-road#S5CV0523P0_19540210_HOC_167 |title=Fort William—Mallaig Road |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=10 February 1954|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> while a report in 1965 showed there were still {{convert|30|miles}} of single-track along the route.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1965/nov/17/fort-william-mallaig-road-dual#S5CV0720P0_19651117_HOC_122 |title=Fort William-Mallaig Road (Dual Carriageway) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=17 November 1965|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> In 1969, the section between Craigag and Glenfinnan was upgraded to a two-way road and realigned in some places. A new bridge over the [[Caledonian Canal]] at Banavie was built the following year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1969/nov/19/a830-fort-william-mallaig |title=A830, Fort William-Mallaig |first=Dickson |last=Mabon|author-link=Dickson Mabon |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=19 November 1969|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> The poor quality of the A830 enabled the West Highland Line to remain open; it was marked for closure in the [[Beeching Report]] but this was not done because it was impractical to run a replacement bus service along the parallel road.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1967/mar/01/mallaig-line-closure#S5CV0742P0_19670301_CWA_105 |title=Mallaig Line (Closure) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=1 March 1967|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> In August 1991, a group of protestors, organised by a local councillor, blockaded the road as a protest over lack of improvements.<ref name=herald/>

In 2007, the road was assessed by the [[Institute of Advanced Motorists]] as being 1 of 11 roads in the UK having a "1 star" dangerous section along it.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ben |last=Webster |title=Star-rating system shows which roads are most likely to kill you |newspaper=The Times |location=London, England |date=3 December 2007 |page=4|access-date=29 August 2017 |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kccl&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF503601311&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In April 2009, the final single-track section of A830 between Arisaig and [[Lochailort]] (the only such example left on a British [[trunk road]]) was bypassed by a modern replacement as part of a £23.4m upgrade.<ref name=herald>{{Cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12385994.Delight_as_infamous_single_track_A830_bites_the_dust/ |title=Delight as infamous single-track A830 bites the dust |newspaper=Scottish Herald |date=11 April 2009|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref> The {{convert|7.4|mi|adj=on}} bypassed section has been handed to the local authority for maintenance and designated the B8008.<ref>{{cite web |title=LIST OF PUBLIC ROADS – PROPOSED REVISIONS |url=http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A6D8187D-B4C7-4BDF-A6B1-1A448C7CE931/0/Item46LA11106.pdf |publisher=The Highland Council |access-date=23 September 2013 |date=12 June 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927100545/http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A6D8187D-B4C7-4BDF-A6B1-1A448C7CE931/0/Item46LA11106.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>

==Culture==
===BBC programme Countryfile 2008=== 
On 25 May 2008 the road was featured in the [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] TV programme ''[[Countryfile]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ontelly.co.uk/programme/countryfile/25-05-2008/ |title=Countryfile - 25/05/2008 |website=OnTelly|access-date=28 September 2022}}</ref>

===Songs===
There is a traditional Scottish song about the historic route of which the A830 forms part, called ''[[The Road to the Isles]]''.  The lyrics mention locations the route passes, including (in order of mention in the song): the [[Cuillin|Cuillin Hills]], [[River Tummel|Tummel]], [[Loch Rannoch]], Lochaber, [[Loch Shiel|Shiel]], [[Lochailort|Ailort]], [[Morar]], the [[List of Orkney islands|Skerries]] and the [[Lews Castle|Lews]].

A satirical song about the road, "The 8-3-0," was written by Ian McCalman (of the Scottish folk group [[The McCalmans]]) and published in 1993, before the road's widening. The song lampoons the "single track" nature of the A-status road and depicts unsuspecting tourists dodging tourist buses and fish vans, and returning from Mallaig by train instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-mccalmans.com/lyrics/lyrics-The-8-3-0.htm |title=Lyrics – The 8-3-0 |website=www.the-mccalmans.com}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal bar|Roads|Scotland}}
{{Lochaber}}
{{UK primary routes 8}}

{{Coord|56.87842|N|5.48682|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Youtube|Lb82G-72L8k|"Road to the Isles performed by Kings own Scottish Borderers"}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:8-0830}}
[[Category:Roads in Scotland]]
[[Category:Lochaber]]
[[Category:Transport in Highland (council area)]]
[[Category:Works of Thomas Telford]]
[[Category:Mallaig]]
[[Category:Fort William, Highland]]
[[Category:Droving roads]]