Levelling Up Fund for Workington
The Levelling Up Fund was announced at the Government's Spending Review in 2021 and is aimed at supporting town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets. In total, £4.8bn will be available to bid for.
In December 2022 it was announced that the bid for £9.6m was successful.
What's included in the project?
The project is made up of three main components:
- Road widening at Ramsay Brow and Hall Brow (A596/A66)
- Public realm improvements on Washington Street
- Curwen Park access and path network
Learn more about the different elements of the project by clicking on the boxes below.
Within Workington town, there is a longstanding issue whereby HGVs coming from the A66 (and therefore the M6 or wider-Cumbria) reach the terminus of the route at Ramsay Brow junction with the A596. The layout of the Ramsay Brow junction makes it very difficult (and in some cases impossible) for large vehicles to navigate the junction safely. Therefore, if successful, this proposal will address two pinch-points for HGVs accessing employment sites at the north of the town and Port of Workington and provide increased road capacity to support the growth of the town.
The first, at Ramsay Brow, will improve junction capacity by widening the A66 approach to allow long vehicles (55-foot plus) to safely manoeuvre through the junction in all directions to address the longstanding issue whereby certain HGVs are unable to turn right at the junction, resulting in longer journey times and increased use of the A596, causing disruption to local communities along this route.
The second, at Hall Brow (A596), will widen the existing carriageway, formalise the parking bays and create two running lanes capable of allowing two large (55-foot plus) HGVs to pass one-another.
