Cumbria’s storm damaged A591 was reopened this morning after the road was rebuilt following its partial collapse during December’s heavy weather.

 

Environment Minister Rory Stewart reopened the 6km stretch of road between Grasmere and Keswick in the Lake District just before 9am. Work to repair the road was led by Highways England.

 

“I am absolutely delighted to be able to open this road on behalf of the Government,” the Minister said. “We took over this project – unusually – because of the extreme flood damage.”

 

A minibus of schoolchildren from Grasmere Primary School was the first to travel along the reopened road, followed by vintage cars from Lakeland Motor Museum.

 

A new 106m retaining wall was constructed at Dunmail Raise, where part of the A591 was washed away in the storms and repairs have been carried out on three bridges, seven other retaining walls and 91 drains alongside Thirlmere reservoir.

 

A total of 44,000m² of the road has been resurfaced and rock netting has been fitted along a 90m stretch of the A591 to prevent rocks from falling onto the road.

 

Construction teams have been working seven days a week to repair the road and, at its peak, over 100 workers from specialist contractors – the vast majority based in Cumbria – were working on the project.

 

Highways England’s north west director Alan Shepherd said: “Our contractors involved in the project often had to work in challenging conditions, including constructing a new retaining wall in the riverbed alongside the A591 at Dunmail Raise. They’ve done a great job to get the A591 repaired and reopened almost three weeks ahead of schedule.”

 

Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young added: “The floods caused a huge amount of damage to the county’s infrastructure and this unique collaborative effort between local and central government has allowed us to focus our efforts on the many other major repair tasks we’ve had to deal with.

 

“Thanks should go to United Utilities who have done a huge amount on the hillside, Kier Construction and other contractors who have carried out the works and Stagecoach who have operated the successful shuttle bus using the temporary road we opened in February.”

 

(Photo: Highways England)