A Cumbrian MP has asked the Government to give its financial backing to reopen two bridges in the south of the county.
In June, Westmorland and Furness Council closed the Brigsteer Road and Underbarrow Road bridges over the A591 near Kendal, due to structural safety concerns.
In October, it said if its assessments of the bridges provided positive results they could reopen to light and pedestrians in early 2025.
Today, Thursday January 9, Tim Farron, who represents Westmorland & Lonsdale, asked Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, to give urgent financial support to repair and reopen two bridges near Kendal.
Speaking during Transport Questions in Parliament, Mr Farron said: “Hundreds of local authority roads across the country include half-joint bridges built in the 1960s and 1970s that are now dangerously unsafe.
“They include the Brigsteer Road and Underbarrow Road bridges leading out of Kendal, which have been closed for the last six months, causing great inconvenience to the local community.
“They were built with Government funding 50 or 60 years ago, but local councils are unable to replace them with the funds available to them now.
“Will the Secretary of State meet representatives of Westmorland and Furness Council as a matter of urgency, so that the bridges can be reopened and our communities can be reconnected quickly?”
Ms Alexander said: “I will ask my colleague the Minister for the Future of Roads to have that meeting with the council.
“However, the additional money that we have provided, and the individual allocations that were announced before Christmas, can be used not just for road maintenance, but for bridges and pavements.”
The council appointed consultants WSP to appraise options for a temporary bridge or propping the current structure.
The authority said at the end of last year that there were complexities involved with both options and the delivery of propping, or a temporary bridge solution would only be possible later in 2025.
