Drivers will once again be able to use the stretch of the A592 at High Kingate - halfway between Troutbeck and the Kirkstone Inn, just before the start of the Kirkstone Pass – following the completion of works to repair and reinstate the steep hillside and rebuild the carriageway and retaining wall.
The complex programme has been completed on schedule, meaning the road will be fully open for the start of the main school holidays in one of the Lake District’s busiest locations.
Councillor Peter Thornton, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet member for Highways and ICT, said he was delighted the route would be re-opened for the summer holidays.
Councillor Thornton said: “We have been acutely aware the impact this closure has had on local communities and businesses that rely on this vital link.
“We set an ambitious target to get the job completed and the road re-opened by the time schools finished for summer, which is obviously peak season for tourism.
“It has been a fantastic effort by everyone involved, from the council’s highways and capital programme teams, to our consultants and contractors, to complete this complex repair in such a challenging and restricted location.
“The project started in the depths of the winter and as anyone who knows this location will understand, it is very narrow, with steep banking above and below, and it’s not the easiest place to access.
“But it is also a very well used route, both for local traffic and by tourists accessing Kirkstone Pass and the wonderful attractions in the Ullswater Valley, so it was important for us to try to get it re-opened as quickly as possible.’’
An emergency road closure was set up following the landslip in November, which was caused by heavy rainfall and partly undermined the carriageway.
Measures were taken immediately to stabilise the ground and divert water away from the landslip site to prevent further collapse and diversion routes and signage was put in place.
Westmorland and Furness Council brought in expert ground investigation teams and work started before Christmas to undertake surveys on the carriageway and steep banking below, to determine the best way to repair the landslip.
Various options were considered, including carriageway realignment and building a tiered concrete retaining wall, with the agreed works carefully designed to protect the landscape as well as improving the stability of the steep slope, protecting the highway and reducing the risk of future damage and landslips.
The complex repair programme in a restricted location involved infilling the landslip area and rebuilding and strengthening the banking using special steel reinforcement bars (known as soil nails) installed into the slope. A flexible steel mesh has been applied to help stabilise the surface, followed by topsoil, seeding and erosion‑control matting, to encourage vegetation growth which will eventually cover the mesh and soil nails.
A new retaining wall faced with natural slate has been built to replace the old highway verge and upper embankment and the road surface and drainage has been renewed.
While the road was closed for the landslip repairs, the council’s highways teams also took the opportunity to carry out some other maintenance/defect works on this stretch, including drainage repairs, inspection and stabilisation works to the rock face at Raven Crag, infilling scour voids, repairing potholes and removing invasive Himalayan Balsam and some trees affected by Ash dieback.
Local parish councils and businesses were kept updated on the landslip repair process and the council worked with Cumbria Tourism to help promote the message that areas around the closure, including Kirkstone Pass itself and villages in the Ullswater Valley, were accessible and very much ‘open for business’ via diversion routes.
Councillor Thornton added: “We would like to thank those communities, parish councils and businesses for their support and patience during the closure and while the repair and reinstatement work was completed.
“I think everyone appreciated this was a tricky fix in a very tricky location. Everything that could have been done has been done, to make sure we got the road fully repaired and re-opened in the time that we have.’’
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