The £1.3 billion A66 project is set to see a wave of new jobs coming to Penrith with dozens of new staff already making the town their workplace.
This summer, businesses are expected to start to see the first ripples of an economic wave as companies involved expand their workforces in the town.
The green light for the mammoth construction project — effectively an HS2 for the nation’s roads network — is not expected officially from the Secretary of State for Transport until the end of November.
But preparations are gathering pace with £120 million of upfront funding being committed this year alone by National Highways, the Government-owned company and project lead, which has been at the wheel for two and a half years.
It confirmed this week that it has expanded its existing workforce in Penrith by 25 people recently, with local graduates employed.
Lee Hillyard, A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project director for National Highways, said: “By the late summer, we expect to have 150 people on the ground in the local Penrith area, who will be helping the economy by either walking to get a sandwich or going into Penrith at lunchtime, and starting to have an economic impact on the town.
“When we hit construction, that will rocket by between 4,000 and 6,000 people.”
Of the jobs coming up, Mr Hillyard said it was in talks with the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and would also be going into schools with a message that jobs in the construction industry are far broader than ‘driving a digger in a cold, wet field’ with top careers available, including construction law or communications. Ground investigation teams from around the UK are already staying locally as part of preliminary assessments at Kemplay Bank, and the Center Parcs junction.
Kier Construction, one of three delivery partners, is bringing in more staff to its offices at the Junction 40 Auction Mart site.
A further influx will set up at the former PFK offices at the mart, which are being converted to accommodate up to 100 staff.
And in the last week, the call for full-time engineers to be based in Penrith, has gone out by Balfour Beatty, another delivery partner. With “economic and social value” among the project’s priorities, local apprenticeship opportunities for young people are expected too.
The project, to start next spring, will last until 2029.
It is also going to generate roles for those living across a wide “commutable” area from Penrith, including Lancashire, Manchester, Liverpool, and even Scotland — helping to spread the benefit, Mr Hillyard explained.
The “east side” of the project — equivalent to a third of the scheme’s value — will hoover up a workforce drawn from the Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Darlington areas, who are largely expected to commute with many preferring to “go home to their own bed”.
But other incoming contractors and staff are going to need somewhere locally to either stay, shop, spend or socialise.
Talks have taken place with Cumbria Tourism, whose members include accommodation providers. But local house rentals may also surge as work colleagues seek to share large properties rather than living out of a suitcase and taking-up tourism accommodation.
Of the huge logistics exercise, Mr Hillyard said the sheer volume means the accommodation search will extend far beyond Penrith, while establishing “container villages” was a last option.
Mr Hillyard said: “Do I ship people to the work-sites rather than let them drive there? Do we push the accommodation further away and then bring people to a central point such as a park and ride to take the stress out of the last mile by taking them on a bus or vehicle, so you create less of an impact? Do I go and buy six hydrogen-powered buses? These are all the types of considerations coming up now.”
Jonathan Brook, leader of Westmorland and Furness Council, said: “This project will serve as a tremendous boost to the local economy.
“Not only will it see jobs created for local residents, it will also bring people to work here from outside our area, leading to more money being spent in our local shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants.”
