A5094

Whilst the route of the A595 through Whitehaven along Loop Road may look like a modern bypass on the map, it is in fact an old road, which opened in 1928, soon after the roads were first classified. The A5094 dates to that year and follows the original route of the A595 through the town centre.

Route

Corkickle – Aikbank

The southern end of the A5094 is a fairly ordinary town road, running between suburban semis and terraces. Then, after passing a small park on the left, surrounded by roads with traffic lights controlling the junctions, a retail park suddenly appears on the left. More traffic lights control the entrance and then we turn the corner into the grid-iron town centre. Here a number of roads make up the one-way system as it passes through the town, with the B5345 also taking two routes south from the centre.

Strand Street, Whitehaven

The one way system is formed by (northbound): Lowther Street, Strand Street and Tangier Street, then (southbound): George Street, Church Street, Duke Street, Scotch Street, with Duke Street also providing a eastbound link in the middle. As the road heads out of town, it curves to the east between Tesco and some modern industrial looking buildings, before climbing the hill to pick up New Road.

New Road is an odd looking route: passing through a wide band of trees it looks like it could be an abandoned railway line (it isn't) except for the older housing at its north end. Unfortunately I didn't drive this piece of the road on my recent visit to Whitehaven.) It presumably replaced Bransty Road as the main northern entrance to Whitehaven, although quite when is a bit of mystery. Judging by the age of the housing, it seems most likely that this was a Turnpike-era improvement.