Road engineers have begun work on making phase one of Kendal's controversial traffic scheme a permanent fixture while continuing to progress towards pedestrianisation of the town centre.

Traffic cones have appeared outside the town's County Hotel as contractors start to create a mini-roundabout at Longpool that will take more vehicles away from the heart of town. This will be accomplished by making Station Road two-way so that vehicles approaching from Appleby Road and Shap Road will have easier access to Sandes Avenue without having to travel down Wildman Street, over Stramongate Bridge, New Road and Blackhall Road.

All town centre roads are to be resurfaced and low skid surfaces laid at junctions in a project costing £400,000 the same sum it would have cost to revert the traffic system back to how it was. It is hoped the work, which is being carried out by County Contracting Services, will be completed by mid-March.

"The works originally undertaken were temporary because we were never sure that we were making the system permanent," said Cumbria County Council's area support manager for South Lakeland, Stuart Pate. "Almost all the work is going to be done during the early evening and overnight because the last thing we wanted to do was to put road works in the town centre during the middle of the day."

A six-week period of consultation is about to begin on proposals to create a bus lane in Stricklandgate from Woolworths to Library Road - and extend loading and unloading restrictions from 8am to 6pm on Highgate, New Road, Station Road, Stricklandgate, Stramongate, Sandes Avenue and Lowther Street.

Objections to these proposals are expected from disabled drivers, who claim the combined effect will result in blue badge holders being unable to park in Kendal town centre. Disabled parking badges allow for up to three hours on double yellow lines except where causing an obstruction or where loading and unloading restrictions apply.

Mark Tennant, the manager of Disability Action, says it is important that disabled people make their views known to local councillors and respond to the onsultation. "Disabled people could effectively be excluded from much of the town centre," said Mr Tennant. "Some disabled people need to get very close to the shops and with no proposed increase in disabled spaces in car parks, Kendal could easily be a no-go area for many."

January 17, 2003 10:00