Traffic chaos sparks calls for relief road in Kendal

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron called for the green light to be given for a northern relief road in Kendal after the town was gridlocked all day on Thursday, September 11. Roads through Kendal and surrounding areas were badly affected after the northbound carriageway of the M6 was closed between Kirkby Lonsdale and Shap following an accident. In a letter to the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, Mr Farron said: "This is an absolute disaster for local businesses, residents, and visitors.

But it also nothing new. This has been a problem for decades. "Given the narrow streets and bridges, our town centre isn't designed for modern traffic and therefore it doesn't take a lot for things to go wrong.

A northern relief road would take lorries and other traffic out of the town centre, be more resilient to events and enable us to make the town centre more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists."

In July, the Department for Transport announced the proposal for a new road linking the A591 Windermere Road to the A6 Shap Road north of Kendal had been included in a list of schemes under review.

The day's traffic chaos was a combination of the closure of the M6 due to an accident involving an overturned lorry catching on fire, and increased numbers of cars on the road for the Westmorland County Show in Crooklands.

The Department for Transport had previously stated the final decision on a northern relief road would be announced at the end of the year.