Cumbria Better Connected group urge Roads Minister to bring in new safety measures on A590

The Cumbria Better Connected campaign group have written to the Roads Minister Baroness Vere, encouraging her to look at investing in new safety improvements on the A590 to save lives.

It comes after recent incidents on the road where a cyclist in his eighties tragically died after a collision with a van, and two air ambulances were called to a separate crash involving a car and an HGV.

The letter, which is signed by the group's chair Tim Farron MP, the Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell, Cumbria Tourism, Cumbria LEP and other local politicians and organisations, sets out a list of safety improvements for the minister to look at investing in on the A590:

• Roundabout at Gilpin Bridge
• Remove the short and counterproductive dualling at the Lakeside-Haverthwaite railway station
• 40mph speed limit past Newby Bridge petrol station
• Consider 50mph between the end of the High Newton bypass and Greenodd
• Widen the carriageway to enable safe turning at Newby Bridge garage
• Average speed cameras all the way from Greenodd to the High Newton by-pass and elsewhere along the road
• Cycle, horse and pedestrian bridge over the A590 west of the Lakeside-Haverthwaite railway station
• Comprehensive signage and road markings to alert road users to the danger of the road and the need for greater patience and slower speeds

In the latest five year period for which there is validated accident data provided by the Department for Transport (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019), there have been eight fatalities, 14 serious accidents and 58 slight accidents on the A590.

Writing to the Baroness Vere, the group say: "We write to you to express our deep concern about the safety of road users travelling on the A590 - a vital transport link between Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal and the M6.

"We know that National Highways have been working with local communities along the route to identify the areas that are leading to accidents and put in place measures to improve safety.

"However there is clearly much more that needs to be done and that funding must be available to implement a raft of measures which would improve safety on the road.

"These measures we strongly believe will protect road users and ultimately save lives."