Carlisle city centre bypass 'relieved traffic levels'

Carlisle's new bypass has led to a reduction in city centre traffic, council figures have revealed.

Since it opened a year ago, more than four and a half million journeys have been made on the £176m Carlisle Northern Development Route (CNDR).

In the same time, the number of heavy goods vehicles in areas such as Kingstown Road fell by half, with smaller reductions recorded elsewhere.

A council spokesman said the bypass was "everything we hoped it would be".

The figures came from traffic counters positioned at different spots in and around the city.

The 5.13 mile (8.25km) stretch of the A689, running from Junction 44 of the M6 to the A595 Wigton Road, opened on 14 February 2012.

Councillor Tony Markley, Cumbria County Council's cabinet member for highways and economic development, said: "The new road is everything we hoped it would be, and our predictions on traffic use have all proved accurate.

"It has changed the way people travel around Carlisle."