A MAJOR junction in Barrow is being drastically overhauled as part of a £1m project to create an entrance to the town's long-awaited Marina Village.

The junction where the end of Rawlinson Street meets Salthouse Road in Barrow is set to be reduced in width and new paving and street 'furniture' will be installed by contractors working on behalf of Cumbria County Council.

Work has already started to prepare the site, with a number of 15-year-old trees in Salthouse Road having been felled this week to make way for new pavements and replacement trees.

As part of the project, artwork will be installed outside St George's Primary School, additional lines will be painted on the road outside the school, dropped kerbs and street lights will be installed at the junction and a large section of the entrance to the junction will be reduced in size.

For the entrance to the Marina Village, just east of the junction, a bordering landscaped area will surround the junction, with new Fastigate Oak and Swedish Whitebeam trees and wildflowers.

A new bus stop will sit within the landscaping and a zebra crossing will be added to Salthouse Road. Funding for the junction works comes from the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.

The long-awaited Marina Village housing site was first proposed back in 2007 as part of the Waterfront Project.

The vision for the Barrow Borough Council-owned site includes ambitious plans to create 700 homes as well as a cruise ship terminal, nature reserve, watersports centre and a multi-purpose sports stadium.

The overhaul of the Salthouse Road and Rawlinson Street junction is seen as a key milestone for the £200m Waterfront project, kick-starting the development of the industrial wasteland and construction of the village.

Council bosses hope the work will act as a stimulus for private sector development on the site.

Work at the junction is due to take 16 weeks to complete.