Plans for a new roundabout on the A66 have been shelved because it would not be value for money.
Villagers in Broughton and Brigham, near Cockermouth, have been campaigning for over 20 years to replace the existing staggered junction with a roundabout and Workington MP Mark Jenkinson stepped in three years ago, telling the Government the scheme was a priority.
Mr Jenkinson said, in October 2020, that he had received a letter from Highways England saying that the scheme was progressing well and it was moving into the ‘legalities of land sales’. It did not reveal a timescale.
The first public consultations about the scheme took place six years previously.
However, in response to a letter from Brigham Parish Council this month, National Highways said it would not be pushing forward with the scheme for a four-arm roundabout and was unable to identify alternative, cheaper solutions to make the area safer.
It said: “With limited funding available for safety improvements, we need to ensure that the funding is targeted towards locations where the benefits relative to the investment are greatest.”
It added that it would keep the location under review, in case circumstances changed.
Mr Jenkinson said: “Regrettably, National Highways has concluded that the project does not, at present, represent ‘value for money’ using their rather rigid funding formula.
I have always been clear that this project is about improving resilience and safety at an accident blackspot – and that it is impossible to put a price on a human life.
“National Highways has made it clear in their response to me that the failure to deliver the nearby Derwent Forest (RNAD Broughton Moor) site has dealt a damaging blow to this key infrastructure project.
“I have therefore written to the leader of the new Cumberland Council urging him to move quickly to get this project back on track following 11 years of local government dithering.
“These vital junction improvements are not dead in the water – and would gain renewed impetus if progress was made on the Derwent Forest site, particularly if the access road is in the vicinity of the Brigham/Broughton junction as has been proposed.
“Traction on the long-awaited Derwent Forest will improve the business case for the construction of the Brigham/Broughton roundabout, with major investment contingent on the new council making progress on this stalled project.
“I have also received assurances from Homes England that they are likely to look favourably on supporting such a road through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.
“I have raised this issue with transport ministers, and with the Prime Minister, and will continue to push for alternative funding.”
