Overnight A66 closures for flood resilience work
Overnight closures needed to deliver the £1.5 million flood resilience improvements along the A66 at Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria started last night (Monday 24 October).
Highways England is working to raise sections of the carriageway by up to 1 ½ metres in several places in response to flooding incidents in recent years which have led to partial or full closures of the road during severe weather – including last December’s storms.
In all, 5 sections of the route, which is a mix of dual carriageway and single carriageway sections, are being improved over the next few months in a project which started in September.
Work alongside Dubwath Beck has already started but enters a new phase this week with nightly closures of both the westbound and eastbound carriageways – between 8pm and 6am each night – for around 6 weeks.
Work further along the route at Smithy Cottage, adjacent to the lake itself, also started yesterday with the closure of the westbound carriageway and a contraflow arrangement installed to allow a lane of the eastbound carriageway to be used by westbound road users.
To allow the work to take place alongside Dubwath Beck, both the eastbound and westbound carriageways will be closed overnight between A66 Lambfoot and A66 Dubwath junctions.
There will be clearly-signed diversions in place for through traffic with HGVs heading east needing to use the A595 from Cockermouth, the A689 past Carlisle and then the southbound M6 to Penrith. Other drivers can use the A595 out of Cockermouth, travelling to Bothel and then using the A591 to get back onto the A66 at Crosthwaite roundabout near Keswick.
Drivers travelling westbound will need to use the same diversion routes in reverse.
Drivers are advised to check traffic conditions before setting out on journeys. Highways England provides live traffic information via its website www.trafficengland.com, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile apps. Information is also available from Twitter via @highwaysNWEST as well as services in other regions.
Providing they can do so safely, road users can also call the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000 to keep up to date with road conditions.
General enquiries
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Media enquiries
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.