A595 Grizebeck Road Improvement Scheme planning permission

Government funding for the Cumbria County Council-led A595 Grizebeck Improvement Scheme was announced in 2020 after years of campaigning from MPs and local councillors.

A brand new 1.2-kilometre stretch of road and road bridge will be built, connecting the A595 Chapels to slightly west of Grizebeck, bypassing the existing stretch of the A595 around Dove Ford and Grizebeck Village.

Planning permission has been granted by CCC and the Lake District National Park Authority, with work originally planned to begin in 2023, but County Councillor for High Furness, Matt Brereton, said that although delays in planning might see that put back a year, it will be worth the wait:

"It has the potential to really revolutionize life for everyone around Grizebeck which is why it's such an important scheme.

"It will improve the area, hugely, because all of the roads in and around Dove Ford are not fit for purpose.

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"Dove Ford has become the synonym for 'the bad bit of road', to the village of Grizebck, past the community hall, all the walls have been torn down.

"Whenever there need to be a road closure, or diversions if the A590 is closed, it just becomes near impassible.

"Once you get locked into that section, there's almost no way out - it's the whole stretch, which is why such an ambitious solution is needed."

Where the new road will go (Image: Darren Shield, Newsquest)

Cllr Brereton said that the last major road scheme in the region may have caused some concern about the long-term effects:

"This is a once-in-a generation event - most people in this part of Cumbria can only really remember a scheme this size, when the two-lane High and Low Newton bypass was built.

"As a result, people are a bit sceptical, as they have seen that local businesses were cut off from a lot of the passing trade, pubs were affected, and there was a farm shop, though some residents were probably pleased that local traffic was moved further from their front doorstep.

"We looked at other routes, but this way, Grizebeck is still connected.

"I have to commend officers - everything I've seen in terms of thoroughness and attention to detail that's gone into this scheme has been first-rate."