At , The A82 was one of the first trunk roads, which were created in 1936, and has historically been described in official government documentation as part of the "London – Carlisle – Glasgow – Inverness Trunk Road" in which the
A6 and
A74 made up the rest of the route. On 1 April 1996, however, the section from Glasgow to the Dalnottar Interchange with the
A898 was detrunked. The main length of the A82, as managed by
Transport Scotland, is now described in statutory instruments and orders as the "Dalnottar – Inverness Trunk Road". From Glasgow to Dalnottar, the route is now the responsibility of
Glasgow City Council and
West Dunbartonshire Council in their respective areas. The A82 runs through some of the
Gaelic-speaking areas in Scotland, known as the
Gàidhealtachd. In 2003, the Scottish Government announced that it would install
bilingual signs on a number of trunk roads, including the A82 from Tarbet to Inverness.
Transport Minister Lewis Macdonald hoped that the signs would improve the tourism experience in the Highlands, as well as improve awareness of Scottish Gaelic.
St George's Cross – Alexandria . Two sections were constructed – the first in the early 19th century, the second in the 1920s. The A82 begins in the
St George's Cross area of central Glasgow, at a junction with the
M8 and the
A804. From here, it heads in a northwest direction along the Great Western Road for towards
Anniesland Cross and passes a number of the city's terraces, including
Alexander "Greek" Thomson's Great Western Terrace, constructed in 1867, and
Devonshire Terrace before widening to
dual carriageway at
Kelvinside. The road here was originally built as a
turnpike road in 1816 and widened to its current state in the early 1970s. All the trees along the route were preserved owing to environmental concerns. The Great Western Road has been described by
Tam Galbraith as "the most noble entry to any city in Europe." The road continues beyond Anniesland Cross as an extension of the Great Western Road, which was constructed between 1922 and 1924, making it easier to widen to dual carriageway in the 1970s than the earlier 19th century section. This dual carriageway ends at the Balloch Roundabout near the western shore of
Loch Lomond, where the road enters the
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Alexandria – Crianlarich , which is now a layby. The road was extensively rerouted and widened in the 1980s. The A82 follows the Luss Road along the western shores of the loch, through
Arden to
Luss. Toward
Crianlarich, it follows the general route of the Old Military Road that runs along the shoreline in several places, but it generally keeps some distance to the west. Much of this section of the road was widened to a high quality single carriageway standard over the 1980s, at an estimated cost of £24 million (£ million as of ), while Luss itself is now bypassed to the west of the village along a single carriageway bypass constructed between 1990 and 1992. At
Tarbet, the
A83 branches west to
Campbeltown while the A82 continues to the north end of the loch. This part of the road is currently of a lower standard than the sections further south. It is sandwiched between the shoreline of the loch and the mountains to the west, and it runs generally alongside the
West Highland Line. The road narrows to less than in places and causes significant problems for
heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), which have to negotiate tight bends and the narrow carriageway width. At Pulpit rock, the road was
single-track, with traffic flow controlled by traffic lights for over 30 years. The road was widened in 2015 as part of a £9 million improvement programme, including a new
viaduct bringing the carriageway width to modern standards. The north end of the loch is at
Ardlui, after which the A82 continues to follow the Highland Line along
Glen Falloch, a typical
glacial valley, towards
Crianlarich. The road runs to the west of Crianlarich village itself on a bypass completed in 2015.
Crianlarich – Glencoe The A82 and A85 share the same route for between Crianlarich and
Tyndrum. Although Crianlarich has a larger community, Tyndrum is equally well catered for motorists, particularly HGV drivers, and contains the Real Food Cafe, a
transport cafe that stays open until 10 p.m. The cafe caters not only to motorists but also to walkers along the West Highland Way. The A82 enters bleak moorland at the western fringes of
Rannoch Moor, to the north of Tyndrum. The road climbs across the moor and reaches a peak height of near Beinn Chaorach, the highest overall point on the A82. It meets the old Military Road near the Kingshouse Hotel next to the
River Etive, and the road turns westward past
Buachaille Etive Mòr down
Glen Coe towards
Glencoe village. though recent concern has been raised over the proliferation of tourist traffic. Coaches and HGVs in particular have caused significant problems with congestion. The road descends the Pass of Glen Coe and crosses the scenic waterfalls at the Meeting of the Three Waters. This section was the location for several outdoor shots in
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, including the "Gorge of Eternal Peril" scene. Near the waterfalls is a footpath up to Coire Gabhall, the "lost valley" of Glencoe, where the
Clan Donald hid stolen cattle. The A82 runs to the west of the
River Coe and passes the modern visitors' centre before Glencoe village itself.
Glencoe – Fort William , where the A82 crosses the mouth of
Loch Leven The A82 continues along the south shore of
Loch Leven beyond Glencoe and bypasses
Ballachulish to cross the mouth of the loch via the
Ballachulish Bridge. This bridge had been proposed since the mid-1960s, and construction began in late 1972 at an estimated cost of £2m (£ million as of ). An arch bridge had been the suggested design, but an asymmetrical
N-truss bridge was built instead. A bearing failure on one of the supports caused delays while the rest of the structure was examined to confirm its safety, and it eventually opened in December 1975.
Fort William – Inverness at
Spean Bridge, with the A82 in the background North of Fort Willam, the A82 runs alongside the
West Highland Railway through
Leanachan Forest towards
Spean Bridge. It crosses the River Spean at a bridge constructed by Telford in 1819, but the village is named for the earlier "High Bridge"' constructed in 1735–36 by
George Wade about to the west. There is a junction with the
A86, which runs eastwards towards Newtonmore and the
Cairngorms. The
Commando Memorial, a high structure dedicated to the original Commandos in
World War II, who used the local area as a training ground, is located just north of the village at a junction with the B8004 to
Gairlochy. This memorial provides one of the best viewpoints of the Highlands that is close to the A82. The A82 then follows the eastern shore of
Loch Lochy up to
Laggan. The village has no clearly defined centre but broadly follows the course of the A82 over , from the Laggan Locks on the
Caledonian Canal to the swing bridge that separates the canal from
Loch Oich. This bridge is close to the "Well of the Seven Heads" monument, which allegedly contains the heads of seven men involved in the murder of Alexander MacDonald, Chief of Keppoch, and his brother, on 25 September 1663. at
Fort Augustus, on the southern edge of
Loch Ness The A82 runs towards the centre of Loch Oich, passes
Invergarry Castle, and crosses the
River Garry. Just after the bridge, the
A87 heads west towards
Skye, while the A82 continues along the western shore of the loch up to the Bridge of Oich at its northern end. This bridge was constructed in 1932, bypassing the
1850s Bridge of Oich, a
Taper Suspension Bridge built by
James Dredge. The A82 continues along the general line of Wade's Military Road up to
Fort Augustus, crossing the canal at a swing bridge next to the locks in the village. The final from Fort Augustus to
Inverness is mostly on the alignment of Telford's Road, running along the western shore of
Loch Ness. This is on the opposite side of the loch to Wade's Military Road, because Telford wanted to connect the various communities along the western shore. Construction of the road started in 1805 but was delayed in 1807, when the building contractors abandoned the work with seven bridges yet to be completed. It was mostly complete by 1809 at an estimated cost of £5,800 (£ as of ). Because the A82 is a main through route, tourists are suggested to use the older Military Road instead, so as to avoid the coach and HGV traffic. Cyclists and walkers can use the
Great Glen Way between Fort Wiilam and Inverness. This is part of
National Cycle Route 78 (The Caledonia Way) from Campbeltown to Inverness. , with
Loch Ness in the background There is a short diversion from the loch at
Invermoriston, where the A82 crosses the River Moriston and the
A887 provides another route back to the A87 and Skye. Telford's original stone bridge over the river, constructed in 1813, was replaced by a more modern structure as part of an overall improvement to the A82 undertaken in the 1930s. Between Invermoriston and
Drumnadrochit, there is a roadside memorial to
John Cobb, who was killed on the loch attempting to beat the water speed record. As the A82 approaches Drumnadrochit, it passes
Urquhart Castle before turning inland, away from the loch shore, to approach the village. The A82 continues at the north end of the loch, along the western edge of the
River Ness, which runs parallel alongside the canal towards Inverness city centre. Immediately after entering the urban area, the road crosses the canal at the Tomnahurich Swing Bridge. Now inside Inverness, the road passes Queen's Park stadium and heads towards the city centre. It crosses the Ness at the Friar's Bridge, bypassing the city centre to pass through the docklands and associated industrial estates as an urban dual carriageway. The road ends at a roundabout with the
A9 just south of
Kessock Bridge. ==History==