Kirkstone Pass is set to reopen to traffic this weekend following further safety work.
Part of the Lakeland road was closed for four weeks for essential road safety improvement as part of an ongoing Department for Transport safer roads project.
It was closed between Brothers Water and the Kirkstone Inn.
The project – which is being managed by Westmorland and Furness Council – includes building new drainage and culverts, resurfacing and installing new safety crash barriers and ‘catchpits’ to collect scree washed off the fells.
More than 200 metres of new stone walling has also been created, along with improved signage and three new laybys.
The work aims to help protect the road from flooding and adverse weather as well as increasing the overall safety and resilience of the route in a bid to minimise road closures over the winter period.
During the closure, Metcalfe Plant Hire Ltd installed large concrete cantilever bases for the new crash barriers, which required excavating large sections of carriageway to over 1.2 metres deep at 77 locations, installing reinforcement cages and pouring tonnes of concrete, as well repairing 269 metres of drainage.
Councillor Peter Thornton, Westmorland and Furness Council’s cabinet member for highways and assets, said: “A huge amount has been achieved this month and we are making real progress with these important works.
“Obviously it is not possible to work on the pass during the winter months due to the weather and we have taken care to schedule any full closures around the busiest school holiday periods.
“We recognise that such schemes cause some disruption in the short-term and we apologise for any inconvenience caused, but they are necessary to improve the long-term safety of the A592 route.
“Not only will the road be in better condition it will also be better protected from flooding and other weather-related impacts in the future and will be less prone to winter closures.
“All that is good news for the local communities and businesses that rely on this route and I want to thank them for their continued support and patience, while we carry out these improvements.’’
As the work continue, temporary traffic lights will be in place before the school summer holiday begins on sections of the road from next Monday, July 3, for the following two weeks – but the pass will remain open to vehicles and cyclists during the day.
The route will be closed overnight only between 9pm and 7am from Monday, July 3, for the same two week period.
Overnight the road will be fully closed and vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists are not permitted to access the area between 9pm and 7am. Barriers will also be in place.
No further work will take place under the safer roads scheme on Kirkstone Pass after Saturday July 15 until Wednesday September 6 in a bid to keep the road clear during the summer holidays.
While the work will restart then – the road will remain open with temporary traffic lights in place until the next scheduled full closure, which will be for a maximum of three weeks starting on October 2.
The road will reopen ahead of the school half term holidays at the end of October. The next full 24-hour closure was moved from September to October after feedback from residents and businesses in the local community.
During the October closure the contractors will be excavating the entire width of the carriageway to support its full reconstruction.
In order to fully complete the resurfacing work, an additional road closure will take place from March 1 2024 and will last for three weeks depending on weather conditions.
