WITH a jubilant beep, a workman's van was the first car through Kendal's new roundabout this week, reports Beth Broomby.

Traffic flowed smoothly, cautiously navigating the new system at Longpool under the watchful eye of a cluster of Capita engineers and a row of curious residents taking ringside seats opposite the County Hotel.

The system, which has re-introduced two-way traffic on Station Road for the first time since the 1960s, went live just after 2pm on Wednesday.

Designed to relieve pressure on the town centre, the new roundabout sets up a two-way link across the north end of town, creating a direct route from Shap and Appleby Road to Windermere Road and a new two-way flow system on Station Road.

Rob Lawley, a consultant with Cumbria County Council's contracting engineers Capita, was at the launch.

He said: "It is early days yet, but people are driving through carefully at the moment and it is going well. It will take time for people to get used to giving way at the roundabout but it will come with time."

He said the town should begin to feel immediate benefits from the scheme, which includes a new lane to allow traffic out of Ann Street on to Wildman Street without queuing.

"People no longer have to go into town to get to Windermere Road. This will help take more traffic out of the centre once drivers get used to it."

Work on the roundabout began in January this year but involved an unusual amount of activity on the site because BT was forced to move some of its major national trunk lines from underneath the road.

May 16, 2003 09:30