Work has now started on a new scheme to create a dedicated space for people to safely walk, wheel and cycle along Abbey Road in Barrow between Ramsden Square and the junction of Park Drive.
The route has been shaped by the views of local residents following a public consultation in 2023 and will result in minimal changes to existing traffic lanes, being designed to avoid disruption to journey times for those travelling by motor vehicle – a clear request from respondents during the consultation.
New cycle lanes will be created within the existing wide pavements on both sides of Abbey Road, carefully designed to support safe and accessible journeys. The lanes will run behind bus stops to fully separate cyclists from motorists, whilst providing a dedicated space for pedestrians using public transport.
To enhance safety and ease of movement, all junctions along the route are being upgraded. Raised tables will be added at several side road junctions to help prioritise pedestrians and cyclists and to provide safer, more convenient crossing points.
Parallel crossings and Toucan crossings with dedicated space for pedestrians and cyclists will be provided elsewhere.
The council is delivering the Abbey Road project as part of its wider commitment to make active travel the natural choice for everyday journeys, improving health and connecting communities more sustainably.
It builds on the recently completed new active travel route on North Walney and the £5 million investment includes £3.2 million from Active Travel England’s Fund 3 and £1.7 million from the Brilliant Barrow Town Deal Fund.
Barrow is also benefitting from unprecedented levels of investment through the Team Barrow partnership programme, with Government agreeing to invest more than £200 million in the town over the next 10 years in recognition of the town’s strategic importance to national defence and security.
This investment will be used to help transform the town, delivering improvements across health, housing, education and skills, transport, the economy and community.
A re-invigorated and re-modelled town centre is seen as key to these ambitions and a multi-million pound ‘Heart of Barrow’ project is looking at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to radically re-think the centre of the town.
Heart of Barrow will be shaped by extensive public engagement but could include new or improved culture and events spaces, creating a better food and drink offer alongside leisure and market facilities, new accommodation and community and health services.
A Westmorland and Furness Council spokesperson said: “The alignment of both the Abbey Road and Walney active travel routes support those long-term Heart of Barrow ambitions by connecting residential areas with major employment and education sites such as BAE Systems, Furness General Hospital, Furness College and the town centre, as well as allowing better access to green spaces and the coast.
“We recognise that during the construction of the new active travel routes along Abbey Road there may be some disruption to journeys, with short lane closures to ensure the safety of contractors working on site.
“It is therefore inevitable that this will result in slightly slower than usual traffic flow at times, but traffic management will be in place to minimise the disruption. People planning to travel along Abbey Road should be aware of this and plan their journeys accordingly.
“These new active travel routes are an important part of helping to make travelling around the town safer, more sustainable and more accessible for everyone and contribute to the vision of a transformed town centre.
“Enabling more people to choose active travel to get where they need to be is one of the most effective actions we can take to help build a happier, healthier and greener community.”
There are various ways people can stay in touch with progress on the Abbey Road scheme, which will take 12 months to complete.
Information about the scheme is available on the council’s website ( Abbey Road (Ramsden Square to Park Drive), Barrow-in-Furness | Westmorland and Furness Council), an information board in Barrow Library will be updated with news about what’s happening on site and key milestones are being marked with updates on the council’s social media pages.
Anyone with enquiries can also use the dedicated email: abbeyroad@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
