Drivers simmering in Keswick’s traffic queues have been warned it will get worse before it gets better.
This week, Cumbria County Council highways staff have been moving the lighting columns for the new £130,000 puffin crossing after they were put in the wrong place and risked knocking the mirrors of HGVs.
And unlike the town’s upcoming Christmas lights switch-on, the activation of the new traffic lights between the junction for Coleridge Court and the Co-op is anything but eagerly anticipated.
Cllr Tony Lywood says getting rid of the problem once it starts will not be quick or easy too. Cumbria County Council – the highways authority – is being abolished from April 1. Mr Lywood believes the outgoing authority will take a “suck it and see approach” and that sorting out the problem will be left to the incoming Cumberland Council, which will have a full in-tray.
This week, Gwyn Jones, group operations manager for Lake District Hotels, raised his concerns with the LDNPA and the county council.
As one of the area’s largest private sector employers, the group runs three venues in Keswick, two in the Borrowdale Valley and employs more than 300 staff. Because of traffic delays, it has been forced to introduce measures to help them, including flexible working hours.
Mr Jones said that he had hoped “common sense” had prevailed but was dismayed to realise the lights are here to stay.
Mr Jones said: “During busy periods Keswick already has issues with congestion, and regularly there are standing vehicles polluting the air and stretching back well into the Borrowdale Valley.
“This is made worse whenever there is anything stopping the flow of traffic such as the temporary lights that were put in place when the original lights were erected. We had hoped that planners had taken note of this and decided to keep traffic moving. How can stopping the flow of traffic and therefore adding further to the congestion be considered a step forward?
“Tourism and hospitality are Keswick’s biggest employer, if the town becomes gridlocked not only will this further exasperate local residents but also customers who will become frustrated. Keswick will lose its charm.”
Peter Walter, chairman of the Keswick Tourism Association, has also spoken out.
“It is unbelievable that such a simple job has been so badly messed up,” he said. “The remedial work seems to be taking forever and the disruption and delay caused is hugely frustrating. We have been in contact with the relevant parties, on behalf of our members, to try and get the work completed as soon as possible.”
The provision of a new crossing was a planning condition laid down by the Lake District National Park Authority.
It granted permission for the new Premier Inn hotel and sought to answer concerns about guests crossing one side of the road to the other. Hotel owners Whitbread sought to drop the crossing and put more money into improved signage.
Planners at the LDNPA said that idea was refused following objections from Keswick Town Council, Cumbria County Council and eight local residents who wanted the crossing to remain.
However, Keswick Town Council had always objected to the proposed location and wanted the national park to insist it was moved further away up High Hill.
An email from Kevin Richards, planning manager at the LDNPA, has told Mr Jones: “The operation of the crossing now and in the future as well as its impact on highway conditions is now a matter for the local highway authority.”
A county council spokesman said: “Council officers are monitoring the function of the new signals and will address any concerns that occur during the maintenance period of 12 months once they have been commissioned and signed off.
The council’s signals team have already requested that additional sensors to capture traffic waiting at the Co-op car park wishing to join traffic on High Street are installed. They have also requested the ‘beeps’ on the signals shut off between 7.00 pm and 7.00 am to avoid noise nuisance to residents.”
