The news of a road reopening in Furness has been welcomed after being closed for more than a year.
Barrow and Furness MP and Low Furness Councillor Ben Cooper have welcomed the announcement from Cumbria’s Highways Department that Dendron Road is set to be reopened next month, as delayed roadworks have left local residents feeling frustrated.
Dendron Road, which connects the villages of Leece and Dendron, has been closed to all traffic since November 2020, as roadworks have been carried out to repair an ageing culvert that runs under the carriageway.
In March this year, the culvert collapsed prompting emergency work from the highways team to remove the blockage ahead of forecast heavy rainfall. During these emergency works, a ‘potential’ water main was exposed, requiring investigations from United Utilities before any further repairs could take place.
A new culvert was subsequently designed to avoid interfering with the live water main, and the roadworks are now nearing completion.
In a written response to Councillor Cooper, Cumbria County Council’s Highways Department confirmed that they were looking to complete the works and reopen the highway in early December.
Cllr Ben Cooper said “It’s great news that we’re finally going to see Dendron Road reopened in the next few weeks, after being closed for over a year. This is an important connection between our villages and forms part of the National Cycle Route 700.
“Local residents have contacted me feeling frustrated at what they saw as the slow progress with these repairs, but together, we’ve lobbied the Council to get this work done, and now the end is in sight”.
The issue was raised by numerous local people at the local MP, Simon Fell, Summer Surgery Tour in July.
Mr Fell added: “Many local people raised this road closure with me, and it’s caused great disruption and frustration. Through working together with Cllr Cooper we’ve been able to move things along and get the road in Dendron scheduled to open once again so that local motorists won’t be disrupted by this for much longer.”
