The Kendal Northern Access Route, a new road from the A591 to the A6, will not get government money. The council says it will ask ministers to explain why.

The government will not fund the Kendal Northern Access Route, the new road that would have taken traffic round the north of the town. Westmorland and Furness Council announced the decision on Monday 12 October and called it “extremely disappointing”.

The road would have been a single carriageway linking the A591 Windermere Road to the A6 Shap Road north of Kendal. The council says the government has decided it “will not be part of its road and rail investment programme”. (Council news release, 12 October 2026)

What the council said

Councillor Peter Thornton is the cabinet member for highways. He said the scheme remains “a long term aspiration” for the council’s administration.

“The Northern Access Route, or Relief Road, would have strengthened the resilience of our transport network in Kendal, especially whenever traffic is diverted off the M6 and through Kendal,” he said. “But it would also have brought massive improvements to Kendal by reducing congestion and improving air quality in a historic town where dealing with modern traffic volumes is a challenge.”

The council has asked to meet the Department for Transport “to challenge the reasons for the decision”. It says the minister indicated that the decision “does not prevent the scheme from being considered in the future”.

The council’s release does not say what reasons the government gave, or when it was told. On 13 October we could find no Department for Transport document on GOV.UK setting out the decision or the minister’s letter.

The scheme had already fallen off the government’s list

The Department for Transport runs a funding pot for big local road schemes, called the Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme. Its own record shows the Kendal road slipping out of it this year.

  • 8 July 2025: the department listed the Kendal Northern Access Route among schemes “under consideration”. (DfT scheme list, 2025)
  • 26 March 2026: after a review of 41 schemes, the department said 16 would go ahead, subject to business cases. Kendal was not one of the 16. (DfT confirmed schemes, 2026)
  • September 2026: the council’s own capital programme carried £9,000 for the route this year and nothing in any later year, as we reported in our look at the Heart of Kendal budget.

So no money for building the road was in the council’s forward plans either.

Why a relief road comes up every time the M6 shuts

The council’s case for the road rests on M6 closures. It says diverted traffic through the town “causes significant congestion” whenever the motorway is shut.

The next one is two weeks away. National Highways will close the M6 northbound between junctions 36 and 39 overnight, 8pm to 5am, on 27 to 28 October, to repair surfacing and expansion joints in the Lune Gorge. The signed diversion is:

  • the A590 and A591 from junction 36
  • the A5284 Windermere Road into Kendal
  • the A6 north over Shap
  • the B6261 back to the M6 at junction 39

(National Highways, M6 Lune Gorge structures, update of 5 October 2026)

Those are the two roads the Northern Access Route would have joined, north of the town.

National Highways also plans a seven-week public consultation in February 2027 on options for the Lune Gorge bridges themselves.

What the council is doing instead

Councillor Thornton pointed to other projects: Grizebeck, the A66 dualling, support for bus services and active travel schemes. He said the council would keep working with partners “such as Kendal Futures” on the resilience of Kendal’s roads.

The most concrete Kendal item is a study of small fixes for walking and cycling. A report to the South Lakeland Locality Board on Thursday 15 October says the study found:

  • more than 600 small improvements for active travel in Kendal
  • each worth up to £50,000
  • over £6m in total

Councillors have been given three options for an early package of works. That depends on a funding allocation the report expects “in the Autumn”. A separate study, paid for by Kendal Town Council, sets out new and better cycle parking across the town. (Highways and Traffic Working Group report, South Lakeland Locality Board, 15 October 2026)

What it means for you

  • No relief road is coming for the foreseeable future. The council calls it a long-term aim, but no money is set aside beyond this year’s £9,000.
  • M6 closures will keep sending traffic through Kendal. Plan around the overnight closure on 27 to 28 October. Our Kendal roadworks page lists every closure affecting the town and is updated through the week.
  • The 15 October Locality Board is open to the public. It meets at 6pm in Kendal Town Hall. The highways report is on the agenda, alongside the 20mph decisions for Burneside and Grasmere.

We will report what the Department for Transport says if the council’s meeting with it goes ahead.