Work to improve a Carlisle road will start next month and will last for around eight weeks.
Cumbria County Council will begin work at Etterby Road on Monday, February 15, to enhance monitoring of the slope between the road and the River Eden, and to reduce weight loads on the crest of the slope.
The work will involve:
- Installation of further specialist equipment to enhance ground monitoring of the slope
- Narrowing an 86-metre section of Etterby Road to a single lane of two-way traffic to reduce the number of vehicles travelling on the crest of the slope
Permanent traffic lights will be installed at each end of this section of Etterby Road.
The signals will be sensor-operated to support traffic flow.
No waiting restrictions will also be introduced to prevent parking, loading and unloading at any time within the confines of the traffic lights.
The county council has scheduled the work to start after completion of utility work close by on Etterby Street, in order to minimise disruption for local residents and road users.
Etterby Road will be closed to traffic during this period to enable the work to be safely carried out by the council’s contractor.
A signed diversion via Stainton Road will operate and access will be maintained for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists throughout this period.
Councillor Keith Little, Cumbria County Council cabinet member for highways, said: “These works are a precautionary measure designed to reduce the number of vehicles on the crest of the slope and enhance the site monitoring work. I’d like to thank local residents for their patience and understanding while these works take place.”
The slope between Etterby Road and the River Eden has been monitored regularly using inclinometer boreholes installed in 2017.
The inclinometers would provide an indication of large movement within the slope. No movement has been recorded at all on these inclinometers.
The previous erosion of the slope during Storm Desmond in 2015 was shallow in nature with only the top layer of material eroding away as the ground became saturated.
