A5093

This article is about the current A5093, a loop off the A595 serving Millom.
For the original A5093, the southern half of the Barnet Bypass, see A5093 (Barnet Bypass).

The A5093 is the only main road in and out of Millom in south Cumberland. It can also be classed as the bypass to the A595 Whicham Valley - used as such by 'local' armaments transporters to avoid steep twisty inclines and risk of grounding. However, the A5093 is not a good alternative as it too has width and tight bend issues.

The Good

The A5093 has been improved in places, as the image below shows. The road has been rerouted to remove a narrow road which, due to the geography, would have been difficult to widen.

The Bad

Note: 'North' means West-West-North and 'South' means North-East. 'North' and 'South' are local directions with local meanings; to head South (to London, for example,) one needs to head North-East by the compass!

The A5093 still has several bad sections.

Approaching from the M6 Jct 36 and the A590, one turns off the A590 at Greenodd onto the A5092 which becomes the A595. This is followed through the narrows at Duddon Bridge to the first junction with the A5093 following a climb to the top of a straight hill, although over the hill the downward slope has some bends to beware of. The junction itself onto the A5093 forms a fork to the left and is an easy manoeuvre to perform.

Once onto the A5093, the road gently descends round a bend at 'The Oaks', which has been deemed to be sufficiently narrow to warrant traffic lights to hold oncoming traffic. Once through these, it is a straight run up the hill, at the top of which is the village of 'The Hill' with its narrowness and 30 mph speed limit. Once through The Hill, the road remains of limited but free-flowing width down a significant hill onto the level plain upon which Millom sits. A couple of tight bends and a hump at the castle are the only sections of concern all the way into Millom.

The 'northern' exit from Millom contains two gated level crossings, both of which necessitate narrow chicanes to the 'north' and 'south' of the hamlet of Kirksanton - which has railway track but no station. This stretch of road is notoriously difficult for meeting HGVs due to sharp bends and very limited width. A few hundred yards to the north of the 'northern' crossing, the road significantly widens and straightens to form a perfectly acceptable road. This continues to its junction with the A595 where, in fact, the A5093 has priority, offering a straight approach to 'John Bull Hill', so named after the pub that once stood on the hill.

North of Millom

The image (left) has been taken to the 'south' (i.e. N-E) of The Hill, looking north. To the right of the image the tip of a junction can be seen - in fact this was once the old road before a bypass was built in the 1970s. Much of the A5093 isn't this good.

History

The A5093 was originally part of the main route of the A595. The A595 was rerouted over the former B5283 after World War II and the A5093 took on the section bypassed.