PFI credits secure £143M bypass for Carlisle

23 November 2006

The Department for Transport has finally approved £142.8M of PFI funding for the construction of a new bypass in Carlisle, following months of complications and setbacks.
The PFI credits will fund building of the Carlisle Northern Development Road and the 30-year contract to maintain the route and nearby roads.
The five-mile road will link the A595 to the south of Carlisle with junction 44 of the M6 at Greymoorhill, enabling motorists from west Cumbria to avoid Carlisle’s city centre when heading for the M6. Construction is planned to begin in March 2009.
Jack Richardson, county council spokesman for client services, commented: ‘With ministerial approval for the necessary PFI credits, we have now cleared every major obstacle to construction.’
The project gained initial government approval in October 2004, but the following January’s floods prompted the Environment Agency to ask for a redesign to improve the road’s flood resistance, driving up costs from £78M to more than £100M. Costs and delays were further exacerbated by the discovery of a new small section of Hadrian’s Wall – which English Heritage wanted reinstated in an underpass.
Richardson added, ‘It has not always been easy, but we have stuck with it, put our money where our mouth is, and now it looks as if we have the pay off.’

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PFI credits secure £143M bypass for Carlisle

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