Westmorland & Furness Council has apologised after an emergency lane closure sparked weekend traffic chaos in South Cumbria.
An emergency closure of the northbound lane on Walney Island’s promenade was put in place on Friday after an electricity cable that required urgent attention was discovered.
The closure was intended to be just for a few hours to allow for immediate remedial works and to minimise disruption, but the closure remained in place longer than planned and led to widespread traffic issues on Friday and Saturday, the council said.
While some lane closures had already been planned on Walney – as part of ongoing work to make a busy crossing safer for cyclists and pedestrians – the northbound lane was always intended to remain open to maintain traffic flow during the four-week scheme, it added.
A council spokesman said: “We want to apologise for the traffic issues on Walney Island at the end of last week and over the weekend.
“The discovery of the cable meant emergency work was required to deal with that issue and a lane closure was needed, but it was envisaged this would only take a short time and the northbound lane could reopen with disruption kept to a minimum.
“In the event, the lane remained closed for longer and led to the traffic issues on Walney.’’
The scheme to provide the new toucan crossings will provide safer access for both pedestrians and cyclists travelling to Vickerstown Park across the promenade, as well as linking to the ‘active travel’ route on Walney launching in spring 2025. Cyclists will be able to cross without dismounting
To allow for the work connected with this scheme, revised traffic management arrangements are being put in place and these will be monitored on site by a specialist traffic management company from 7am to 7pm.
Businesses in the area, including the Ferry Hotel, will remain open throughout the duration of the work.
The council spokesman added: “We always recognised that temporary traffic management while working on the promenade would result in some impact on vehicle users, particularly North Walney residents, during peak times.
“However, we planned the traffic management associated with the improvement scheme to minimise disruption and keep traffic moving.
“The northbound lane closure associated with the unexpected emergency cable works has, however, caused unacceptable levels of disruption over the past few days and we apologise to anyone who found themselves caught up in the disruption.’’
