A £2.5m improvement scheme to create an enhanced gateway for Whitehaven and improve road safety at a busy junction will enter a new phase in November.
Cumbria County Council is delivering the project to reconfigure the road junction at Bransty Row/North Shore Road in the town’s North Shore area.
The improvement project will help pave the way for significant new development in the town’s North Shore area, as well as improving traffic flow and enhancing road safety for drivers and pedestrians.
The next phase of works will involve a series of improvements on Tangier Street, with new footway paving, carriageway works and creation of a new bus stop/shelter.
In order to allow the council’s main contractor, Thomas Armstrong Ltd, to safely carry out these improvement works, it will be necessary to close the road to traffic for approximately two weeks from early November. The date will be confirmed in due course.
The county council appreciates the temporary road closure will cause some disruption and we are working with local businesses to minimise any inconvenience as much as possible. Measures will be in place to ensure businesses on Tangier Street can receive deliveries during the closure and access will be maintained to the Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners car park. Access will be maintained at all times for pedestrians, dismounted cyclists and emergency services vehicles.
The improvement works have been timed to take place in early November in order to avoid school holidays and the run-up to the busy festive period.
The county council secured £1.66m of funding for the highways improvement scheme from the government’s National Productivity Investment Fund, together with a £834,000 contribution from profit for purpose property firm, BEC, to support the North Shore regeneration.
Cllr Keith Little, Cumbria County Council Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “The county council has secured significant funding for these improvements which will create an enhanced gateway for Whitehaven and help unlock substantial new investment in the town. A series of improvements will be made on Tangier Street as part of the overall scheme. Unfortunately we will need to temporarily close the road to allow our contractor to safely carry out these works. We appreciate this will cause some disruption and we’re working with local businesses to minimise the disruption as much as we can.”
Cumbria County Council is delivering the £2.5m highways improvement project for Whitehaven project, which will reconfigure the road junction at Bransty Row/North Shore Road in the town’s North Shore area.
The full programme of improvement works include:
- Introduction of traffic light controls on Bransty Row/North Shore Road junction.
- Improved pedestrian crossing points and links between the harbour, the proposed new developments and the town centre’s historic core.
- Enhancement of the road junction at Tangier Street/George Street to improve traffic flow and facilitate development.
- Relocation and increase in provision for taxis to reflect forecast increased footfall in the area.
- Enhanced provision for cyclists, people with disabilities and the partially sighted.
