[R]OAD improvement work at North Road, Barrow, will progress to a new phase next week when Cumbria County Council’s contractors start road widening work.
Cumbria County Council is delivering the improvement scheme, which involves widening a 260m section of the southbound carriageway of North Road to allow continuous two-lane traffic, valued in the region of £500,000.
North Road currently narrows from two southbound lanes to one lane immediately north of Devonshire Dock Hall and then increases back to two lanes to the south of the building. This scheme will help improve traffic flow and tackle traffic congestion.
Traffic flow and journey times on this section of North Road are not expected to be affected during construction work. Two-way traffic will be maintained on North Road, and both lanes will be narrowed to accommodate safety barriers which will enable most of the works to be carried out.
Road widening work can now begin following the successful completion of enabling works to divert and lower utility infrastructure, including water mains, gas pipes, telecoms and high voltage and low voltage electricity cables.
The county council has appointed Thomas Armstrong as the main contractor for the road widening works and they are scheduled to move on to the site early next week. They will be excavating the existing sections of footpath and road behind the safety barriers to create a new section of highway. This section of footpath will be closed to pedestrians during the works, which are scheduled to last for approximately 16 weeks. Pedestrians will be diverted onto the opposite footpath.
Funding for the improvement scheme has been secured through the government’s National Productivity Investment Fund.
Some resurfacing works are scheduled to be carried out towards the end of the 16-week construction programme. These works will take place overnight for approximately one week and are likely to require a night-time only road closure. Further details on any road closures will follow.
