A SOUTH Cumbria town is set to get a bypass as part of a major project to cope with an expected influx of workers and residents to the area.
Cumbria LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) has launched a county-wide plan to enhance Cumbria's road and rail networks that include improvements to the A590 and an Ulverston bypass.
The plans have been mooted as part of a radical shake-up that aims to prepare the county for £25bn worth of investment as large-scale projects such as the Moorside nuclear new build, Sellafield decommissioning and BAE's Successor programme gather speed.
Graham Haywood, director of Cumbria LEP, believes these investments are crucial in opening the doors to economic prosperity.
He said:
“The county is facing unprecedented levels of investment and growth over the next fifteen years, with more than £25 billion of investment planned across Cumbria.
"These and other projects have the potential to create more than 30,000 additional jobs and an additional £1.3 bn of economic output per year by 2030."
Despite this glowing prediction, Mr Haywood warns that important work must be carried out to ready the area for this investment.
He said: “Maximising this growth opportunity requires significant investment in our transport and communications networks. We therefore need to plan strategically and prioritise our collective resources.
“All of the recommendations we are making are essential to improving access to markets, travel to work and learning, movement of freight and goods, and supply chain development."
The plans have highlighted a number of key areas across the county that include enhancing Cumbria's coastal rail links, making improvements to the A595 and building a new bypass at Ulverston.
This bypass has been earmarked to help the town cope with the influx of workers heading to the area to take up new employment opportunities.
Mr Haywood said: "This plan is a review of what would be a big infrastructure plan across the whole of Cumbria that will help us deliver our economic opportunities at BAE Systems, GSK and Siemens.
"Having identified the need for an Ulverston bypass, it will now go into government planning for the next round of funding in 2019."
If funding is granted, work will then be carried out to identify a suitable route for the road.
Councillor Mark Wilson, mayor of Ulverston, welcomed the idea saying: "It pleases me to see that they are grappling with this issue because the A590 is already at or over capacity.
"Although it is years into the future it is a useful idea and aspiration and it would be good to see some funding attached to it.
"Anything that can help get the traffic moving is great."
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