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M6 motorway’s rural diversion ‘feels unsafe’

54 minutes agoNetwork Rail The eight lanes of the motorway are closed while multiple cranes work to pull down the concrete bridge overhead. Artificial work lights illuminate the dust rising from the works as the area is cordoned off behind plastic barriers. Vehicles are parked in front including two red and yellow highways' vans and a lorry.Network Rail

A minibus passenger diverted through rural villages because of a motorway closure says the route felt unsafe and "it wouldn't need much for something to go wrong".

The M6 between junctions 39, near Shap, and 40, at Penrith, Cumbria, is closed this weekend and next[1] as part of West Coast Main Line works to demolish and replace the 60-year-old Clifton Bridge.

Bernard Walker said his vehicle kept having to stop for lorries on the wrong side of the road to pass and it "only needs one idiot to try and make up time and you've got the potential for an accident".

National Highways said it had worked for several years "to carefully plan this event" and to minimise disruption as much as possible.

Each weekend, the closures are taking place from 20:00 GMT on the Friday night to 05:00 on the Monday morning.

During the day, vehicles travelling southbound are being diverted on the A66 through the Eden Valley.

Northbound traffic and all overnight traffic is using the A6 through villages like Shap.

Mr Walker, who frequently travels from Staffordshire to Glasgow to see his grandchildren, was taken on the diversion on Friday night having caught a lift with friends when his train back was cancelled.

"They're trying to put modern traffic through what's basically a 1950s route, creating quite a potentially dangerous situation," he said.

National Highways A map detailing the M6 junction 39 and 40 daytime weekend closure routes. A red line on the M6 from junction 40 at Penrith to junction 39 indicates that this section of the road is closed, according to a key in the bottom left. A yellow line which follows the A6, relatively closely alongside the red line of the M6, is the Northbound diversion route. /p pHowever a blue line, indicating the southbound diversion route, takes a longer route. It sweeps up in a 'c' shape to the east along the A695 and then A66 from junction 38. The blue line passes by Kirkby Stephen, Brough and Appleby-in-Westmorland, before it reached the Kemplay roundabout near Penrith.National Highways

Mr Walker said the signposting of the diversion was good but that "no-one seems to have told the residents of Shap".

Large cars were parked half on and half off the pavement "effectively blocking" the route, he said.

National Highways said it had chosen a time of the year, and a week, when traffic volumes were at their lowest.

"We appreciate the patience and understanding of drivers and local communities while we work to keep traffic safely moving," a spokesperson said.

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A number of minor roads have been closed during the work, with residents given access permits.

But people posting on social media have reported more traffic than usual through Eden Valley villages, such as King's Meaburn.

Some suggested diverted drivers were ignoring the official alternatives and going wherever they liked.

There was a crash involving a car and a bus on Saturday afternoon[2] which temporarily blocked the A6 diversion route between Hackthorpe and Thrimby.

The driver of the car was taken to hospital, police said.

Mr Walker said he would have liked to see a police presence on the diverted route.

"I thought you would have had a few reassuring patrol cars somewhere around the place, but there wasn't," he said.

Cumbria Police has been contacted for comment.

More on this storyRelated internet links

References

  1. ^ closed this weekend and next (www.bbc.co.uk)
  2. ^ on Saturday afternoon (www.bbc.co.uk)

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