Greystoke’s main artery is impassable for several weeks due to roadworks associated with a Story Homes housing development.
The B5288, the main road between Greystoke and Penrith, is completely shut for around six weeks until 23rd July — a move which has caused outrage among village residents.
Roy Fisher, chairman of Greystoke Parish Council, said: “The road closure will greatly affect the whole village of Greystoke.
“There are children attending the school from Penrith, the shop and post office will also see a tremendous reduction in footfall from passing trade as will the village pub.
“The locals will no doubt use the minor roads via Blencow or Greystoke Gill, both of which are in a bad state of repair due to years of neglect by the highways.
“I cannot understand why, in this day and age, when we have such technology at our fingertips, that it has to be closed at all, surely a set of traffic lights would suffice.”
More than 2,500 vehicles travel the road every day on average, and the proposed diversion via the A66 and Motherby will add around three miles to every trip from Penrith.
However, locals have expressed concern to the council that people are likely to use the quicker routes through Greystoke Gill or Blencow.
Much of this is single-track and not fit for high volumes of traffic.
Connecting the new housing development, known as Greystoke Fields, to the mains sewage system is the reason behind the traffic measures. Workers will dig a five-metre-deep pit taking over much of the road.
The development is already controversial among residents after Story Homes was allowed to slash the number of affordable homes from 12 to four, citing significant site-specific abnormal building costs.
Although scheduled with the county council’s highways team, many residents said they were informed about the road closure by a large yellow sign that appeared at the entrance to the village earlier this month.
A spokeswoman for Story Homes said: “The road closure at Greystoke has been put in place by the local highways agency to ensure the safety of the public as it includes the installation of deep drainage.
“There is a diversion in place that allows visitors to access the village which will be clearly signposted throughout the duration of the work.
“Whilst we cannot make any promises, our aim is to try to reduce the timeframe that the road is closed for, and if it is safe to do so, look at opening the road from a Friday evening to a Monday morning.
“We won’t know whether this is possible until the work starts, however if we are able to open the road during these times, we will ensure that there is clear signage in place to communicate this to local residents and visitors.”
A spokesman for Cumbria County Council confirmed that the full road closure was scheduled and necessary so that work could be carried out safely.
Legally HGVs need at least 3.5m and the excavation would only leave 2.6m of road with barriers, making it dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
