Work gets underway from today (Monday), on improvements at Glebe Road in Bowness, as part of a project to make some of the Lake District’s ‘honeypot’ areas more accessible by bus, bike or car.
The first phase of the work will see the creation of additional parking on the section of Glebe Road from Glebe Road car park to the junction of Rectory Road, providing angled parking bays.
The new layout will enable works to take place later this year to re-locate on-street parking away from the waterfront section of Glebe Road and create improved footways, carriageways, and public spaces for visitors and residents.
Cumbria County Council is leading on the scheme, working closely with South Lakeland District Council and the Lake District National Park.
The scheme is part of the wider Optimising Connectivity project, which is being funded by the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.
The LEP has allocated £2 million from the Local Growth Fund to deliver the Optimising Connectivity project.
In addition, South Lakeland District Council is making a contribution of £225,000 towards improvements on the shore area of Glebe Road.
The improvement works at Glebe Road have been planned for some time and a contractor has been appointed to carry out the work.
The project will therefore not affect the council’s ongoing flood recovery effort to repair roads and bridges in the county damaged in the recent floods.
Councillor Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet member for highways, said: “The enhancement work at Glebe Road is part of a £2 million package of improvements designed to make it easier to access key visitor destinations along the A591.
"Funding for this project was secured from the Government some time ago and we’ve taken local feedback on board when finalising the improvements.
“Since the December 2015 floods, the council has been working very hard on the flood recovery work, repairing the damage to our roads and bridges, and that remains our top priority.
"I’m pleased the Optimising Connectivity project is going ahead as planned and a contractor has been appointed to deliver the Glebe Road scheme.”
Construction of the scheme on Glebe Road is being phased to help reduce the impact on visitors and businesses. Work is being programmed to avoid the main school holidays at Easter, summer and autumn.
It'll start on Monday the 15th of February and finish by the end of April 2016 at Glebe Road from Rectory Road junction to exit of Glebe Road car park.
Then, work will begin on Glebe Road from the exit of Glebe Road car park to A592 junction near Information Centre, and the foreshore area between Pump House Café and Lake District Boat Club from November 2016 through until the end of March 2017.
Traffic will be able to access Glebe Road whilst works are taking place and park on-street on sections of the road which are unaffected by works.
For more information on the scheme and future updates, go to the county council’s dedicated webpage.
