Landslip road repairs to take several months

The landslip on the A592 in Cumbria followed recent heavy rain in the county

A significant landslip that has closed part of a road is likely to take several months to fix, a council has warned.

Westmorland and Furness Council said the A592 was shut at Kirkstone Pass, between Troutbeck and Kirkstone Inn, with crash barriers having to be installed due to the steep landslide caused by heavy rain.

Assessments and technical surveys are ongoing to determine the extent of the damage and motorists are being diverted on a lengthy route via the A6.

Peter Thornton, the council's cabinet member for highways, said towns and villages either side of the closure were still accessible and "nowhere was cut off".

The council said the carriageway had been "undermined" and the steepness of the bank coupled with weather conditions would make carrying out the repairs "challenging".

It also said the "complex project" could involve the building of platforms into the bank so workers could access the site.

A spokesman for the authority said: "We don't yet have a more precise time frame for the repairs and there's lots of feasibility work still to do."

He added that "realistically" it would not be possible to begin the main repair work until weather conditions improved in the "spring at the earliest".

'No easy fix'

Measures have also been taken to try to stabilise the ground and divert water away from the site to prevent any further collapse, the spokesman said.

He said the authority had also "briefed" parish councils and Cumbria Tourism to promote the message that areas around the closure, including Kirkstone Pass and villages in the Ullswater Valley, were very much still "open for business".

Thornton also said it was not possible to "simply" fill in the hole below the road and there was "no easy fix".

Crash barriers have been installed at the site of the major landslip

Does this mean Kirkstone Pass is closed?

The council said this is not the case and it is still accessible from the northern end, via Patterdale and Glenridding along the A592.

The minor local road known as The Struggle, which drops down from the pass to Ambleside, is also still open although, as the name suggests, it is a steep and narrow route and not suitable for larger vehicles.

Can cyclists get through the closure?

The road is closed to all users, including cyclists.

However, the council is assessing whether any public rights of way alongside and down into the valley could be suitable as an alternative route for cyclists.

What are the diversion routes?

The authority said it was only allowed to sign official diversions along main routes that could be accessed by the majority of vehicles.

So while there may be shorter routes, via minor roads familiar to locals, it could not use those as "official" diversions.

The official diversion for vehicles travelling from the south and west (Ambleside) is via the A591 and A66, and from the north and east (Penrith) is via the A6 and A66.

The council said it had also been in contact with utilities companies to ask them to consider whether they could postpone or reschedule planned works on the diversion routes.

It also said it was considering rescheduling planned roadworks to avoid putting "further pressures" on the network.

The council said it may have to install platforms for workers to carry out repairs of the steep bank