Last updated at 16:49, Wednesday, 16 January 2013

A NEW road could be built over the canal in Ulverston ahead of GlaxoSmithKline’s expansion.

As part of the £350m investment into the GSK Ulverston site, Cumbria County Council has been looking into ways of improving access to the site.

A preferred option – building a road connecting the Booths roundabout to North Lonsdale Road – was identified in a report to members of Cumbria County Council’s South Lakeland local committee.

It acknowledged a number of constraints, including restrictions on crossing the railway line.

The report documents a discussion between members of the committee’s highways and transportation working group last month.

It said: “Members raised some concerns regarding the proposed point of connection to North Lonsdale Road, but recognised there were site constraints on alternative locations for a junction.”

It added that the proposed route would improve access to sites earmarked for development in South Lakeland District Council’s Land Allocations plan and create investment opportunities at inaccessible sites.

The report stated the road “would generate employment and development opportunities in the area and provide an additional route access to GSK.”

The proposed road would leave the A590 at the roundabout near Booths and cross the railway at the existing arches close to the canal.

It would then run parallel to the canal before crossing over it to join North Lonsdale Road through the former council depot immediately west of Kennedy Street.

Plans to build a biopharm facility in Ulverston, which will create hundreds of jobs, were announced in March 2012.

In anticipation of increased levels of traffic, Cumbria County Council has helped finance the study into improving access to the site.

There are also plans to upgrade the junction where North Lonsdale Terrace, the main access road to the site, meets the A590 – with traffic lights one option being considered.

First published at 16:34, Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk