A590 cycling improvements show safety campaign is paying off says Farron
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has said that a major package of funding to improve cycling on the A590 will hopefully save lives. The announcement is the latest tranche of funding to try and make the A590 safer for motorists, residents and cyclists.
Highways England, the government-owned company which will deliver the largest investment in England's major roads in a generation, officially launches next week. The company, which replaces the Highways Agency from 1 April, will invest £11 billion in delivering a raft of improvements on England's motorways and major A roads making roads even safer, improving traffic flow and reducing congestion.
Their Delivery Plan, published today, is the detailed response to the government's Road Investment Strategy, a long-term approach to improving England's major roads. For our area we will see a series of cycling improvements delivered in 2015-16. The package is believed to be worth over £500,000.
The report states that work will done in the following areas:
- A590 Brettargh Holt to Levens
- A590 East of Newby Bridge Services
- A590 Newby Bridge to Ayside
- A590 West of Barrowbanks
- A590 Gilpin Bridge Cycleway
- A590 Lindale Hill to Low Newton
Tim said: "Over the last ten years I have worked incredibly hard to try and improve safety on the A590. This announcement is another step in that long running campaign.
"I am committed to doing everything in my power to bring down the accident rate on the road. I also want to thank Rod Wilson, the former Cartmel County Councillor for all his work on this issue - we have worked together on this for years and this funding, was down to him.
"I'd also like to thank campaigners like Janet Willis and Sue Sanderson as well as all the Highways Agency staff who have worked so hard on this issue with me over the last few years. It really has been a big team effort."
In 2012, Tim drove then Transport Minister Stephen Hammond MP along the A590 to various dangerous points of the route. At the end of the tour Tim held a public meeting at Greenodd and Penny Bridge Hall, where the Minister met with local residents to discuss safety. One of issues raised was the need for safer cycle routes.
Since 2010, Tim, campaigners like Sue Sanderson and Janet Willis and Furness MP John Woodcock have been able to secure nearly £3 million to make the road safer, through £2.15 million on the Greenodd roundabout and a further £790,000 to tackle delays on the A590 between M6 junction 36 and the outskirts of Barrow.