Frustrating traffic queues in the Borrowdale valley are to be discussed by local Green Party members later this month after vehicles ground to a halt in a 1.5-mile jam.
Discussions are planned by the Allerdale and Copeland branch after the B5289 Borrowdale Road heading towards Keswick bore the brunt of the staycation influx recently.
Motorists leaving the valley were left inching along bumper-to-bumper in a slow-moving queue extending from the National Trust’s Great Wood car park all the way to Keswick town centre.
It meant that the short journey took a staggering 40 minutes with the tailbacks extending from the valley all the way to the mini roundabout at Tithebarn Street and Main Street — a distance of 1.5 miles — with the junction struggling to process the volume of vehicles.
At certain pinch-points along the valley, there was also the familiar summer scenes of large motor homes meeting bulky farm traffic coming the other way with drivers forced to slowly inch past each other.
Usually, bus company Stagecoach expects the journey between the Borrowdale Valley and Keswick to take around 13 minutes.
Yet at the height of the jam, passengers on an open-top double decker bus were seen to get off and walk the rest of the way into town rather than stew in the queue.
The company has since confirmed that its 78 Seatoller service experiences delays at times due to congestion.
But officials declined to discuss what the delays might mean for passengers left waiting at bus stops, or whether the tailbacks deter visitors from using public transport.
Borrowdale Parish Council does not believe this year’s traffic levels have necessarily been any better or worse than previous years with the valley often busy in August.
However, the Friends of the Lake District have said that traffic levels this summer have reached a “tipping point” and are calling for action from the authorities to develop a far-reaching traffic management system.
Dr Kate Willshaw, its policy officer, said: “Agricultural traffic has to go up the valley as it’s where people are living and working, but in combination with super large motor homes and delivery lorries, it just becomes untenable.
“These roads were not designed for two very large vehicles to pass each other or the sheer weight of traffic at this time of year.
“One of the things the Friends of the Lake District would like to see is a much better traffic management system.”
Dr Willshaw added: “Because of the car parks and sheer weight of traffic coming out of the valley you are going to end up with a situation where there are mile-and-a-half tailbacks.”
This summer, the landscape charity said the time had arrived for a “radical rethink” on transport and called for authorities to commission a feasibility study to look at “all possible options” of reducing cars on roads in the Lake District.
Allerdale and Copeland Green Party believes that the introduction of “pop-up” car parks along the valley has been “very damaging”
Many offer £5 all day parking which provides visitors the opportunity to walk and see the sights.
While it has helped reduce some problem parking across the valley, it also results in “theme park” queues at peak times on certain days as the mass exodus begins.
Jill Perry, secretary of the Allerdale and Copeland Green Party, said: “Providing facilities for car drivers just mean more cars come.
“This is exactly the reason why we keep saying you can’t just replace every petrol and diesel vehicle with an electric one.
“The cost in congestion and the frustration it causes is just too high.”
She fears that the environmental impact of vehicles idling in a 1.5-mile traffic jam will only increase damaging CO2 emissions from exhausts in a valley prized as “one of the most idyllic places on earth”.
Ms Perry said: “Borrowdale was known for its high air quality and had some rare lichens growing there because of the clean air, but idling petroleum engines will pollute the air and have a cost in human health and wildlife.
“We really need people to leave their cars at home, use public transport again, have better, more frequent services and stop destroying the very things they come to see.
“It is incumbent on transport companies, Government and local authorities to provide a much better public transport service so people can use it and make our roads safe for pedestrians, cyclists and wildlife.”
Keswick has, however, led the way this summer in the drive to cut car use and emissions.
A Park and Sail initiative was launched last month in a link-up between the Keswick Launch Company and Keswick Rugby Club. Organisers have reported it as being very well used.
