Danger on the A595

Anyone who lives in West Cumbria depends on the A595 and knows how dire long stretches of that road can be.

Figures released following a freedom of information request by the North West Evening Mail show 116 road accidents on the A595 in 2014 compared with 96 the year before – a rise which has been described as “shocking” by a local campaigner.

Last year there were 62 incidents which Cumbria police rated as “serious”.  The number of fatalities rose from two deaths in 2013 to five last year.

County councillor for Millom, Brian Crawford, said most journeys along the road see a “near miss”.
Cllr Crawford said:

“I’m up and down that road all the time to Barrow and to Whitehaven so I know what it’s like. Most journeys I encounter a near miss. You get people misjudging corners and overtaking in the wrong place. I’m like a defensive driver because I know there are quite a lot of people out there who drive too fast just to gain a few minutes.”

Some of the A595 is still a trunk road managed by the Highways agency but a large part of the road including IMHO most of the least adequate stretches, was de-trunked in 2005 and is now the responsibility of the County Council.

Sometimes it is a terrible thing to be proved right, and that’s how I felt when I saw the latest accident figures for the A595.

 

I gave evidence ten years ago at the Public Inquiry, when the last government proposed the de-trunking of the A595 south of Calderbridge.  So did the then administration of Cumbria County Council, Copeland Borough Council, Millom Town Council, representatives of all the main political parties, and all the other affected Town and Parish councils. However, surprisingly, of the candidates who had been standing to represent the Copeland area in parliament only a few weeks before, I was the only one to give evidence.

 

We argued in 2005 that it would be harder to get the necessary upgrades to this road that the area desperately needs if the road was de-trunked and given to the County Council to manage. The number of arguments against downgrading the road were overwhelming.  Sadly, anyone who doubts that we were right only needs to look at the 62 serious incidents and five fatalities on the A595 last year. But the last government went ahead and de-trunked the road anyway.

 

There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, so I am pleased to see that the present MP has also come out in favour of improving the road. I wish he’d been there at the public inquiry ten years ago when we were trying to stop the A595 being downgraded. But better late than never.

 

My colleagues John Stevenson MP and the present Conservative parliamentary candidate for Copeland, Stephen Haraldsen, both lobbied government ministers Dr Greg Clark and Matt Hancock about the A595 this week.  They made the point that improving this road is not just vital for safety reasons, though that alone is incredibly important, but also affects every part of the local economy: including healthcare and time to get emergency cases to hospital, the nuclear industry, tourism and more.  The government wants to help, but need ‘shovel ready’ projects to invest in.  The county council urgently needs to work with other councils and the local community to complete a fully costed study with options for upgrading the road and present this to government.

 

It’s time the mistake of ten years ago should be put right, and this road must be improved.