30/03/04 - Carlisle's £1.5million improvement schemes scheduled to finish by end of May

The £1.5 million improvement works taking place in Carlisle city centre should be finished by the end of May – though a major part will be completed a month earlier.

Two Cumbria County Council schemes are running simultaneously in the city to minimise disruption. When finished they will bring improvements for pedestrians, bus and rail users and cyclists. The city centre bus/rail interchange scheme and the Botchergate environmental enhancement works include work to the road carriageways and to footways. 

Work will be suspended for four days over the Easter period – from the evening of Thursday April 8 through to the morning of Tuesday April 13 - though temporary traffic controls will still be in place.

The bus/rail interchange – which will be completed by the end of April -  is a £1.2 million scheme to tie in the use of bus and rail services as closely as possible for the benefit of passengers, increasing comfort, information and accessibility. It includes concentrating bus stops in English Street, where a “sawtooth” pattern of bus pull-ins is being provided.

New high-quality bus shelters are being provided in English Street and at other stops in the city centre.

Footways are being resurfaced and tidied up, re-using old stone where possible, as in The Crescent where work should be completed this coming weekend. 

The Crescent is being altered to two-way traffic. It will take north and eastbound traffic from Botchergate through Lowther Street - this will reduce congestion in English Street, making it easier for buses to pull out into traffic from the increased number of stops there.

The £290,000 Botchergate environmental improvement scheme is enhancing the carriageway and footway from the area of Tait Street and Crown Street to the junction of Botchergate with English Street.  The carriageway will be resurfaced and high quality bus stops and taxi stops will be provided for the benefit of rail and bus passengers and others.

Both schemes include improved or new cycle lanes and street lighting together with improved traffic signals with pedestrian facilities.

Anyone seeking further information should contact the Highways Hotline number, 0845 6096609. The Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and members of the public can ring the number for information about exactly where work will be going on in the city centre.