The A590 goes to overnight contraflow between Meathop and Stakes Moss from 14 September. Plus Kendal's live closures, the flood works and car park prices.

Kendal has two motorway junctions, one river running through the middle of it, and a flood defence scheme that has been rebuilding the riverbanks for years. Most local delays come from one of those three things. This page sets out what is booked in now, which routes matter, and where to check before you set off.

What is booked in right now

A590, Meathop Roundabout to Stakes Moss: 14 September to 30 October. National Highways is working on the single carriageway overnight, 9pm to 6am, with a contraflow in place for the duration of the works. This is the main road between Kendal, Grange-over-Sands and Barrow, so it affects anyone heading down the coast at night.

A590, Backbarrow Bridge to Rusland Pool: until 13 August. Resurfacing overnight, 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday. The road stays open throughout but convoy working is in place, so expect to be led through at low speed.

A66, Brough to North Stainmore: until 21 August. A contraflow system with traffic lights and convoy vehicles. This is the Trans-Pennine route east, and worth knowing about if you are heading for Scotch Corner rather than the M6.

B6257 at Beck Foot: 20 September, for about a day. A statutory closure for bridge examination, running 300 metres north from the junction with the U5294. The signed diversion is via the B6257, A685, A683 and A684. The order reference is TTROW/I8737.

A companion order, TTROW/I8538, closed Sedbergh Road in Kendal on 9 August for a day for the same bridge examination programme, between the Broom Close junction and a point 240 metres to the south east, diverting via Paddy Lane, Singleton Park Road (A684) and Castle Green Lane. Both were advertised together in the Westmorland Gazette on 23 July 2026.

Queries on council roadworks go to the Highways Hotline on 0300 373 3300.

Kendal's key routes and what is happening on each Diagram of the roads radiating from Kendal. The M6 junctions 36 and 37 lie to the east and are the motorway access. The A591 runs north west to Windermere and Ambleside. The A590 runs south west to Grange-over-Sands and Barrow and has an overnight contraflow between Meathop Roundabout and Stakes Moss from 14 September to 30 October. The A6 runs north to Shap and south to Milnthorpe and is the standard M6 diversion route. The A684 runs east to Sedbergh and the A685 north east to Tebay. The A65 runs south east to Kirkby Lonsdale. The seven roads out of Kendal, and what is on them Schematic, not to scale. Works positions as advertised in August 2026. Kendal A6 north Shap, Penrith A6 south Milnthorpe, Lancaster A591 Windermere, Ambleside A590 Grange, Barrow A685 Tebay, M6 J38 M6 J36 & J37 via A590 and A684 A65 Kirkby Lonsdale Overnight contraflow on the A590, Meathop Roundabout to Stakes Moss, 14 September to 30 October
Kendal is a road junction as much as a town. When the M6 shuts, the A6 through Kendal becomes the diversion, which is the single biggest cause of unexpected town-centre traffic here.

The flood scheme, and what it closes

The Kendal Flood Risk Management Scheme is the reason for most riverside disruption in the town. It is an Environment Agency project delivered by the contractor VBA, and it exists because Storm Desmond in December 2015 hit 2,276 properties in Kendal, either by flooding them directly or by cutting them off when infrastructure failed.

Phase 1 built 6km of linear flood defences along the Rivers Kent and Mint, using walls, embankments and 14 flood gates, plus a pumping station at Gooseholme where Stock Beck meets the Kent. VolkerStevin, one of the joint venture partners, puts the completed protection at 1,480 homes, 82 community facilities and 1,150 businesses.

For getting about, the practical points are these:

  • All road bridges over the Kent stay open throughout construction, under the traffic management plan agreed with the council. Only one road closure, at Waterside, was planned as a full closure.
  • Riverside footpaths close in sections while work moves along each reach, with signed diversions. If you walk the river into town, check before you set off rather than at the barrier.
  • Berners Close car park has limited availability because of construction work, according to the council’s own car park listing.

The scheme has also added new and improved walking and cycling routes along the river, and restored land at Beezon Fields and Mintsfeet, so some of what looks like disruption is a path that is about to get better.

Key routes, and when they bite

  • M6 junctions 36 and 37 are Kendal’s motorway access. The council’s own flood scheme documents make the point plainly: Kendal’s closeness to the M6 makes the town and the A6 a critical diversion route when the motorway closes northbound or southbound, and the M6 from junction 36 upwards is affected fairly regularly through the winter. A closure on the M6 becomes a Kendal town-centre problem within the hour.
  • A591 to Windermere and Ambleside is the tourist artery. In school holidays and on fine summer weekends it queues, particularly on the approach to Windermere.
  • A590 to the south west is single carriageway for much of its length, which is why National Highways works on it overnight and with convoys rather than closing it.
  • A6 north to Shap is the high route and the first to suffer in snow and ice.
  • A684 east to Sedbergh and A685 to Tebay are the Dales-side roads, both narrow in places and both carrying the bridge-inspection closures noted above.

Parking in Kendal

Council car parks in the town are chargeable 8am to 6pm as standard, with Broad Street and Braithwaite Fold running to 8pm. All are open 24 hours. Each has its own Pay by Phone code: Blackhall Road is 9860, Broad Street 9865 and 9879, Brewery Street 9927, Beetham Road 9924, Buxton Place 9928, Berners Close 9866 and Bluebell Lane 805796. The Brewery Arts car park applies overnight charges.

For a comparison point on price, the small pay and display car park at Abbot Hall on the riverside, run by Cumbria Parking Services, charges £2.00 for up to an hour, £3.30 for two, £4.60 for three, £5.40 for four and £7.50 to the end of the day.

If you are catching a train, the parking situation is lopsided. Kendal station has four free spaces. Oxenholme has 145 spaces at £12.50 a day, or £5.50 at weekends. Details of both are on our trains to London page.

Where to check before you travel

  • One.network is the map Westmorland and Furness Council uses to publish roadworks. You can search by town, street or postcode and look up to twelve months ahead.
  • National Highways publishes the M6, A590, A66 and A595 schemes, which the council map does not always carry.
  • The Public Notice Portal carries the statutory temporary traffic regulation orders, which is where one-day closures like the Sedbergh Road bridge inspection are legally advertised.
  • The council’s flood scheme page for riverside works.

More Kendal local information: house prices, trains to London, planning news and things to do in Kendal.