[R]esidents and business owners have been invited to find out about the latest phase of work by United Utilities along the A592 near Bowness.
Since Autumn 2016 United Utilities has been carrying out a project to lay a new 6.5km sewer along the A592 – part of a programme to improve water quality in Lake Windermere.
Now a drop-in session will be held with details of the next phase of work which is due to start in January.
It will be held on Tuesday 19 December between 12-3 pm at the Tourist Information Centre in Bowness.
United Utilities is currently working in the road under temporary traffic lights with a lane closure. This work is due to stop for the Christmas break on 17 December.
From Tuesday 2 January, the Glebe Road car park will be fully closed to the public to allow work to be carried out at the pumping station there. There will be a road closure on the A592 from the Beech Hill Hotel to Moor Crag for the next stage of sewer laying work and a diversion will be signposted using the A590.
The road closure will be lifted temporarily for the week of the February half-term break. It will then close again with a view to reopening at around Easter-time. The work in the Glebe Road car park is also expected to take until around Easter.
Andrew Auld, United Utilities’ senior project manager, said: “This important project to improve the water quality of Windermere will have vital long-term benefits for wildlife, tourism and the local economy.
“We know that the road works are inconvenient and that’s why we have planned to do most of it during the winter months. We will do our very best to get things back open again by Easter and I’d like to thank the community and motorists for their patience and understanding during our work.
“We hope people will take the opportunity to come to the drop-in session if they have any questions or concerns about the next phase of work.”
A spokesperson for South Lakeland District Council said: “South Lakeland District Council is investigating if it is possible to create some additional parking space in the area which could help to limit the impact of the closure of Glebe Road Car Park. Meanwhile, SLDC is working with United Utilities and recognises that this work is essential and cannot be avoided.”
The wastewater project is designed to reduce the number of times the sewer network overflows into the mere during heavy storms. These overflows are a contributor of phosphorous in the mere, which can cause algal blooms and reduce the amount of oxygen in the water – inhibiting aquatic life, and potentially impacting on recreational uses of the lake. The £40 million programme also includes upgrades to the wastewater treatment works at Windermere and Ambleside.
More information is available at unitedutilities.com/windermere
