Businesses fear four years of motorway disruption

47 minutes agoFederica Bedendo

BBC News, North East and Cumbria

Phil Cunliffe

North West Tonight

BBC The M6 motorway crossing Castle Howe Bridge in Cumbria. Each carriageway has three lanes and there is a road turning into the motorway on the far side. Many trees line both sides and the circular concrete pillars which hold up the bridge can be seen on the near side.

BBC

Businesses have expressed fears that a four-year schedule of roadworks planned to repair ageing motorway bridges will prove financially devastating.

National Highways plans to repair eight bridges on the M6 through the Lune Gorge in Cumbria, with work starting in 2027 and expected to finish in 2031.

Companies in the area fear the disruption see them them lose money and customers.

National Highways said the bridges were nearing the end of their lifespan but its aim was "to cause as little disruption as possible".

Mark Mawson, a dairy farmer with 300 cows, said he expects costs to rise by GBP200 a day for his farm.

"A wagon comes in here every day so that wagon will have extra costs applied to it because it will have a detour on it," he said.

A head-and-shoulders image of Mark Mawson inside a cow shed./ppHe has short light brown hair and blue eyes and is looking towards the interviewer./ppHe is wearing a navy sweatshirt./ppThere are cows in pens in the background.

While businesses appreciated the need for the work, they said they were concerned about the timescale, with the partial closure of Junction 38 expected to require lengthy detours.

Adele Shewan, operations manager at the junction's truck stop at Tebay, said she feared diversions would put off the average 100 drivers a night who stop over at the site.

"[Driving through the diversion] is going to be difficult because they're under time restraints," she said.

"If there's a big crash on the M6, we're the truck stop that they come to and they're relocated to, and we've had over 200 trucks parked in here at one time."

A close up of a section of the bridge which has a crack in it.

Work is planned on eight concrete structures in total - seven road bridges and one overhead bridge.

Ms Shewan said the impact goes beyond businesses and will affect nearby villages like Orton, Tebay and Kirkby Stephen.

"Listen to the people, listen to what it's going to do to our village. [We're facing] four years of a child having to re-route to school," she said.

A graphic showing the location of the eight concrete structures that need to be repaired along the M6.

National Highways said it was working with local communities and businesses to minimise impact.

A spokesman said: "The bridges over the Lune Gorge were built more than 60 years ago and are near the end of their lifespan.

"This work is vital to keep drivers safe and maintain the structures for the future."

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