It is used by tens of thousands of us every day, though few actually enjoy it.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling sampled the joys of the A595 – one of Cumbria’s most used and most dangerous roads – for himself recently.

We haven’t been told his precise verdict on the experience. But we can assume he’s unlikely to feature it alongside the A591 or Hartside Pass as one of his favourite driving experiences.

What we do know is that he has promised an announcement in the next few weeks about ‘some improvements’ to the road.

His visit was at the request of Carlisle MP John Stevenson who has suggested that the route’s trunk road status be reinstated.

This would make Highways England responsible for any improvements, operations and maintenance rather than Cumbria County Council.


He believes this would mean more money would be available and a remodelled road would be a major boost to the county’s economy.

Workington MP Sue Hayman has also brought up the issue of transport in Cumbria in the House of Commons.

Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young welcomed Mr Grayling’s visit and condemned the road as “completely inadequate”.

He said: “The big issue in Cumbrian transport terms are the links from the M6 to the coast.

“The east-west roads are the difficult ones and the A595 is the worst of the lot.

“When we tie it in with the Success Regime plans to reduce services at the Whitehaven hospital, that brings the state of the road into sharp focus.”

He admits he has “no idea” what Chris Grayling has in mind.

The Government announced grants for safety work on dangerous roads and asked for nominations. Cumbria nominated the A595 but the work went on the A592.

Since then, Mr Young says the authority has listed six areas of the road that need improvement but has heard nothing from the Government.

Mr Young said: “If they give us the improvements needed, all well and good.

“John Stevenson is saying it should be made back into a trunk road and I would be delighted for that to happen.

“The A595 needs a massive amount of money spending on it, but there is no indication that the Government is listening.

“It needs dualling along most of its length.

“We had a bid in through the Local Enterprise Partnership to do some development work on the new Whitehaven relief road and that was turned down.”

Calls to improve and upgrade the road have been repeatedly made for many years.

Former county council leader Eddie Martin says the cash-strapped authority has never had enough money to finance any serious upgrades.

He said: “For me the priority was always children, followed closely by care for elderly people.

“They are the biggest spending areas and by the time you have done all that and with more cuts from central government, there was less and less funding for any work on the A595.”

According to him, any improvements can only come from central government or the nuclear industry.

He said: “The only way is if the Secretary of State says we are a special case.

“If Moorside is to go ahead, the nuclear industry should make a considerable contribution to improving the road.”

It is expected that upgrading the road will have a knock-on effect on other routes in the county.

Aspatria mayor Barry Chambers is certainly expecting so.

His residents have long complained about the HGVs that thunder along the A596 that cuts through the narrow town centre.

“It could be absolutely amazing, but we will have to wait and see,” he said.

“If improvements were carried out, it would leave the A596 for more residential traffic, it would be so much better for congestion here, safety and quality of life in general.”

Some see any upgrading of the road as a sweetener to Success Regime proposals to downgrade maternity services at the Whitehaven hospital.

The plans would see women in labour transferred to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

West Cumberland Hospital campaigner Annette Robson welcomes the idea of improvements to the road.

But she insists that will not help the situation of women in labour: “We need services at Whitehaven hospital, improving the road is not the answer.

“They think it will impress people by improving the road, but when you need a hospital you need to get to your local hospital and get the services you need, not transferred to one 40 miles away.”

Mr Martin argues that any upgrade of the A595 should be part of advances in the general infrastructure of West Cumbria.

That should include money for bridges, schools, health care, Workington port and the rail line between Barrow and Carlisle.

“It must be seen in the context of the total infrastructure requirement of west Cumbria,” he said.

“While I was leader we calculated that £400m was required to upgrade the infrastructure of the area.

“Investment in west Cumbria is absolutely essential if we are to have a nuclear power station, but even without it,we need it because more business will not be attracted if the infrastructure is not appropriate.”