Work on the road safety improvements to the A684 in the south of the county will begin next week. The work which is being funded as part of a £9.4m allocation to Cumbria County Council from the Department for Transport (DfT) Safer Roads Project will see improvements to the A684 and A592 between Rheged and Windermere in 2020/21 and 2021/22.
The DfTs Safer Roads Fund was set up by the government, working with the Road Safety Foundation to identify the top 50 most dangerous Roads in the UK and invited local authorities to propose schemes for these roads.
Since the funding was announced in summer 2018, various public engagement sessions were held to present the initial options and ideas which had come out of the road safety analysis and early design work for the road safety programme for the A684 to local residents and business. Feedback and suggestions from these sessions has been used to help inform the project and the scheme is now fully developed and ready to start on site.
The main aims for this particular scheme is to replace and install new signage, hazard markers, verge markers and vehicle restraint barriers. There will also be Variable Message Signage (VMS) on Black Horse Hill to warn drivers about ice and fog on this stretch of the road. The work also includes a footway extension with crossing points at Sedbergh New Bridge to allow safe pedestrian access over the bridge. As part of the safety upgrades to the route there is a proposal to include new traffic lights at Lincoln’s Inn Bridge and new street lighting from the edge of Sedbergh to Toll Bar Estate.
Cllr Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport said: “I’m delighted to see this important road safety scheme come to fruition. There will inevitably be some disruption to the road network while the works are undertaken but wherever possible through some detailed planning between our designers, highways engineers, streetworks and permitting teams, we are expecting that the majority of the works can be undertaken without the need of a road closure.
“The scheme has been divided into five sections, grouping the works into logical packages for all construction, traffic management and communications on that stretch. These sections start at the M6 and work towards the county boundary with North Yorkshire.
“I’d like to thank local residents and the wider travelling public in advance for their patience and cooperation whilst this work is carried out.”
