A590 bypass performing well

The A590 bypass in Cumbria has produced major benefits to road users and villagers according to a new report.

Highways England, the government company responsible for the country’s motorways and major A roads, has just published its Post Opening Project Evaluation (POPE) on the two and a half mile, £35 million dual carriageway which opened in April 2008.

And the study – a requirement after a project has been running for five years – shows local commuters and other road users have benefited from faster journey times, a massive reduction of traffic clogging up the two villages and an 80 percent reduction in collisions, down to just one a year from five.

Three minutes have been shaved off journey times between the roundabouts with the B5277 and Newby Bridge during the morning and evening peak travel periods, with a two-minute saving outside peak travel times.

The amount of traffic using the old A590 through the villages has also fallen substantially, from 17,900 to 550 each day, with 16,950 vehicles now using the new bypass every day.

Graham Dakin, construction programme manager at Highways England, said: “We are delighted at the performance of the new bypass since it opened in 2008. There has been a massive drop in accidents and commuters and other road users have benefitted from faster and more reliable journey times.

“The landscaping of the route is also considered by many people to be an asset to the area, and people living in the villages of High Newton and Low Newton have seen a massive drop in the number of vehicles travelling past their homes.”