Cash backing for delayed bypass

The bypass will reduce heavy goods traffic through the village

A bypass for a Cumbria village, first proposed 30 years ago, has won government backing.

Residents in Temple Sowerby, near Penrith, had expressed frustration at continued delays to the £23m scheme.

But Transport Secretary Alistair Darling approved the project in an announcement on Wednesday.

The same announcement also confirmed government cash for another bypass at High and Low Newton. Work on both projects will start within two years.

The schemes are part of a three-year package worth more than £700m for north-west England.

The villagers claim almost 15,000 vehicles pass through Temple Sowerby on the A66 every day.

Trunk road

In November, the Highways Agency said ministers were assessing the implications of a national spending review before committing cash to the bypass project.

The A66 trunk road forms a strategic trans-Pennine route linking the North West, Cumbria and Scotland to Teesside and the North East.

Protesters recently used tractors to slow down traffic and handed out leaflets in the village demanding an early start to work on the bypass.

Almost 30% of vehicles through the village are heavy goods traffic.

Temple Sowerby, with a population of 300, is divided by the road, and the Highways Agency agrees residents suffer because of the noise, pollution and visual intrusion.

The planned 4.9 km dual carriageway bypass will start from a new junction with Cliburn Road at the west end through to a new junction at the eastern end tying in with Morland Road.