rory convenes meeting to solve kemplay roundabout issues

Rory, with the help of local County Councillor Helen Fearon, has convened a site meeting with Highways Agency representatives in January to address issues at the Kemplay Roundabout. The move comes after Councillor Fearon formally raised concerns with Enterprise Mouchel on behalf of the Eden Local Committee, of which she is Chair, and Cumbria Highways about recent modifications to the roundabout, and the resulting safety concerns.

Rory said: “Many constituents have contacted me with their concerns about the Kemplay roundabout, which – and I speak from experience – is a challenging place to navigate. I felt that the best thing to do would be to get the Highways Agency to join myself and Councillor Helen Fearon at the site in January to look at some very specific questions about the safety of the roundabout. They should be addressed urgently. We need better road and arrow markings, giving drivers more time to identify the correct lanes. We need better destination signs on the approach roads, and there is concern about the traffic signals, which seem to be exacerbating congestion rather than improving it. I would like to acknowledge the hard work that Councillor Fearon has undertaken to date in lobbying on behalf of her constituents, and I hope very much that the Highways Agency will act on our concerns.”

Councillor Fearon said: “The most pressing concern is the general layout of the roundabout, in particular the use of road markings and their current inability to effectively guide and direct drivers into the appropriate lanes. The signalisation and use of spiral markings at the M6 Junction 40 has been very successful, and there are several factors which we feel have aided this; by comparison, there are too few markings at Kemplay, resulting in sudden lane-changes, drivers being cut-up, and some becoming stranded in the wrong lane. No lane destination signs have been provided, which would have been a great help. I am glad that our local MP is helping to convene this meeting, so that we can show the Highways Agency what is going wrong, and look at ways in which to cooperate and address the problem.”