A590 road

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A590 road
Length (miles) 34
Length (km) 55
Direction North East - South West
Start M6 Junction 36 nr. Kendal
Primary
destinations1		 Barrow
End Vickerstown, Walney Island,
Barrow-in-Furness
Roads joined A65 road
M6 Motorway
A591 road
A6 road
A5074 road
A592 road
A5092 road
A5087 road
A595 road
Notes
  1. Primary destinations as specified by the Department for Transport.

The A590 is a trunk road in southern Cumbria, in the north-west of England. It runs north-east to south-west from from M6 junction 36, through the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness to terminate at Vickerstown on Walney Island. [1] The road is a mixture of dual carriageway and single carriageway, with the section east of Low Newton to the M6 being mainly dual. Further dual sections are south of Newby Bridge, south of Greenodd and south of Ulverston. The road is the main route for tourists entering the southern Lake District. [2]

Contents

[edit] Route

[edit] M6 to Ulverston

From east to west, the A590 originally terminated at the A6 road near Levens. [1] Its route followed a number of country roads via a series of TOTSO's, [1] passing through a number of villages including Lindale, High and Low Newton, Newby Bridge and Greenodd into the larger town of Ulverston. This road formed a large part of the southern boundary of the Lake District upon its formation in 1951.

This stretch of road has now undergone a series of improvements and route alignments. In the mid 1970s, the A591 'Kendall link road' was built between Junction 36 of the M6 and Kendall [3] with an extension of the A590 also being constructed to join this as part of the wider Lancashire expressways plans. [4] This improvement to the A590 also included a realignment and dualling of the road to the west as far as High Newton, by-passing Lindale. In the mid 1990s the A590 was extended eastward through a re-numbering of the A591 between Sizergh and the M6, providing a single road between Barrow-in-Furness and the M6. [1]

West of the Lindale bypass is the road's most recent improvement, a 2.4 mile (3.8 kilometre) long stretch of dual carriageway built to bypass High and Low Newton at a cost of £35.3 million. [5] This new stretch of road opened in Spring 2008 and connects to the original route to the east of Newby Bridge. The A590 reaches its most northern point at the foot of Windermere, before following the route of the River Leven to its estuary at Greenodd. [1] Both the villages of Backbarrow and Greenodd have now been by-passed, though parts of this route remain narrow and windy. [1] West of Greenodd the road switches between periods of single and dual carraigeway.

[edit] Ulverston-Walney Island

The A590 passes through Ulverston [1], avoiding its most central streets, along an inner relief road. West of Ulverston the road is entirely single carriageway and is mainly used for commuting between Ulverston, Barrow-in-Furness and the small towns in-between the two. [1] West of Dalton-in-Furness, the A590 follows an entirely different route to that it did prior to the early 1990s when Dalton was bypassed. Previosuly, the road had gone through Dalton and entered Barrow along wide the Victorian Abbey Road boulevard, before passing through Barrow's shipyard onto Barrow Island. [1]

As of 2008, the road now follows a modern bypass close to the South Lakes Wild Animal Park and enters Barrow via its north-western industrial area, parallel to Walney Island passing the site of Barrow's former iron and steelworks. A one way system opened in April 2008 now applies to the road as it passes closest to the center of Barrow, with westbound traffic heading towards the town center at Craven Park roundabout and eastbound traffic continuing through the industrial land alongside Walney Channel. [6] The road continues westward over the Jubilee Bridge onto Walney Island and terminates at the Irish Sea

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i A590: M6 J36 (Crooklands) - Walney Island SABRE; Accessed 07-05-08
  2. ^ Destinations in Lake District Peninsulas Lake-district-peninsulas.co.uk; Accessed 07-05-08
  3. ^ M6 Junction 36 Route 6; Accessed 07/05/08
  4. ^ ROADS IN LANCASHIRE: Historic Overview and Maps Lancashire Motorways and Roads Site; Accessed 07/05/08
  5. ^ Welcome to the A590 Now Campaign - Bypass realised - traffic flowing! Accessed 07/05/08
  6. ^ How many people will die? North West Evening Mail 29/04/08; Accessed 07-05-08