Plans to close a vital motorway junction in Cumbria will have a potential impact on drivers and passengers from Teesdale.
Despite strong protests from residents of Kirkby Stephen and surrounding communities, Junction 38 at Tebay is set to partially close for four years from 2027.
The closure will impact buses, motorbikes and cars heading south on the M6 towards the southern region of the Lake District, Blackpool and Manchester, and vehicles heading north from those destinations back to Teesdale.
For cars and motorbikes, there are alternative routes, but they would involve negotiating time-consuming and potentially hazardous back roads.
Buses, meanwhile, will be forced to make a 42-mile detour that involves driving from Brough to Penrith on the A66 and then down the M6. HGVs will be unaffected as they are banned from the A685 Brough to Junction 38 (Tebay) road.
As things stand, National Highways plan to close the southbound junction of the M6 for two years, followed by the closure of the northbound junction for the subsequent two years.
A National Highways spokesman said: “The seven bridges that carry the M6 over the Lune Gorge in Cumbria are rapidly reaching the end of their serviceable life.
“We’re going to carry out essential maintenance to improve the lifespan of these bridges. The scheme is all within a six-mile stretch of the M6 motorway between junctions 37 and 38.”
Stephen Maude of Barnard Castle firm Maudes Coaches says the closure of Junction 38 will add up to an hour to coach trips to popular destinations in the North West like Blackpool and the same again for the return journey.
He said: “It will definitely have an impact because we would have to make a significant detour to Penrith to get onto, and off, the M6 motorway.
“It’s not really an option to use back roads as an alternative route as they are just too narrow for coaches.”
Campaigners believe temporary slip roads linking the A685 to the M6 should be constructed at Junction 38 during the maintenance work.
Hundreds of protesters made their feelings clear at a gathering in Kirkby Stephen late last month. Local MP Tim Farron echoed residents’ concerns that the closure of Junction 38 will have a serious impact on Kirkby Stephen’s business community.
On January 27 he joined residents and business owners in presenting a petition including more than 5,500 signatures to No10 Downing Street calling for changes to controversial plans to partially close Junction 38 for four years.
He said: “Of course we absolutely agree that the work that engineers are doing to rebuild bridges across the motorway is vitally important. No one would dispute this.
“However, the disruption set to be caused by these closures over the next four years will have devastating impacts.
“Building temporary slip roads would keep the junction open, reduce these enormous impacts, and allow this essential project to still go ahead.”
