Details of new West Cumbria road plans to be shared

Leaders say the planned new stretch of road will improve business and reduce journey times

Details about a new road which it is hoped will improve safety and journey times will be shared next month.

Permission has already been granted for the almost one mile (1.4km) stretch to bypass part of the existing A595.

It will see the road routed around a "notorious bottleneck" between Chapels and Grizebeck, near Kirkby-in-Furness.

No start date has been given for the work, which it was previously thought would begin last summer and be completed in 2024.

The route will bypass the current route at Dove Ford Farm

Cumbria County Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the project was at the "detailed design phase".

Councillor Keith Little, cabinet member for highways and transport, said the new road would "boost the county's economy" and "create a safer road from Barrow to West Cumbria".

He added the drop-in session at Grizebeck community hall on Wednesday 1 March would update people living nearby on the latest plans.

The road will replace the current route at Dove Ford Farm which has suffered from serious delays and accidents.

Funding for the scheme has been provided by the authority, the Department for Transport, and Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Alyson Armett, Cumbria LEP board member, has previously said the road would be a "key component of the county's transport infrastructure" and a "welcome boost to efforts to help grow Cumbria's economy and secure new investment opportunities".