The Cumberland Gap

Anyone living near the western fringe of the Scottish border knows about the A74. It's the road between Carlisle and Gretna, a major gateway route.

The A74 is a lifeline. Geography and topology means that there are only three main roads crossing the border between Scotland and England (the A74, A68 and A1). The eastern point of the Solway estuary has two major rivers entering it, the Eden and the Esk. To get from Gretna to Carlisle there are only two routes over these rivers; the A74/M6 and the longer A7 route inland by Longtown, which crosses the Esk via an old, narrow bridge and the Eden at a bottle-neck within Carlisle city centre itself.

Early one morning during bad weather in December 2004, just before Christmas, a man and his son were killed when their lorry overturned on the narrow raised section of the A74 which crosses the marshes near the Esk (Mossband). This bridged section only has room for four lanes - no hardshoulder or middle buffer zone - and is also very exposed to the sidewinds being funneled in from the coast. One big gust caused death and chaos, halting everything for the next 29 hours.

Anyone who has travelled the so-called Cumberland Gap can see that a dual-carriageway with no hard-shoulder and many lay-bys is a dangerous place. There are bus-stops, cyclists, even pedestrians. I have regularly seen people risking their lives to climb over barriers - legally, this is all acceptable, a fact which never fails to amaze me.

Upgrading of the route has just been approved, planned for starting in July. There will be a proper motorway extension built, and also an alternative road for non-motorway traffic alongside.

But there are in my opinion things that can be done now to help the matter, and inform the driver of hazards. I wrote last year to the Cumberland News, something I've never done before, I felt so strongly. I asked for the immediate closure of all lay-bys between Gretna and Carlisle. Every single time I approach this part of the road I slow down, and observe ahead whether or not there are any lorrys in the lay-by, identified by the leaning angle caused by the fact they have to park on the curb because the bays aren't wide enough. The parked lorries are far too close to the traffic and there are services at Gretna and easy access to rest areas in Carlisle.

I wanted a speed limit of 50mph imposed on this stretch (especially on the bridge over the estuary where it is extra narrow) . Controversially, I asked people to consider closing the services and garages along this stretch, where the entrance/exits are very short into fast-moving traffic (obviously the businesses would not agree with me - but I dread to think what would be the situation if ever an accident happened there). Lastly, I called for the closure of all on- and off-ramps to junctions between Gretna and Carlisle - this has already happened at some junctions, presumably after similar concerns were raised.

I was one of the unfortunate people who were stuck in the traffic that December. Information was scarce, the authorities and media gave false hope, promising the route would be cleared by 9pm, they lied! I got home at 2am after finding a route which got me on the Longtown road. People who didn't know the area probably had another 2 hours to wait.

I frequently travel the route for work and leisure and I don't suggest restrictions lightly.

But for safety's sake, this can't continue and needs dealt with earlier than the promised upgrade.

BBC News article

Cumberland News article