NEW traffic measures are to be introduced to improve road safety in two South Lakeland towns.

Cumbria County Council’s South Lakeland Local Committee agreed to changes in Ulverston town centre and Windermere.

In Ulverston Market Place, Market Street and New Market Street will become vehicle-free zones on market days – Thursday and Saturday – between 8am and 5pm. Emergency service vehicles and market traders will be exempt from the change.

The one-way traffic flow on Brogden Street will also be reversed, to allow access for residents and the use of parking bays, and double yellow lines will be introduced on Brogden Street and New Market Street to tackle parking problems.

During the meeting Howard Whitaker, a chartered surveyor in the town, spoke against the proposals.

“I want to see Ulverston continue to prosper, and it sadly may not if this is passed,” he said. “Traders are seriously concerned. It will burden the town with another obstacle affecting its trade. And the ban will also be for cars and taxis taking and picking up disabled people.”

Coun James Airey (Ulverston West) said: “We are actually almost three years down the line of this, and we have gone through a very lengthy consultation process. It would only be people with very, very limited capabilities that would have issues if this was implemented. And there are lots of car parks near the market.

“I am also hopeful that this restriction would actually improve life for traders.”

Approval was also given for parking restrictions to be extended on Rayrigg Road, Windermere, following police and local residents’ concerns about road safety, as a result of vehicles parking between Rayrigg Rise and the Steamboat Museum.

The new restrictions will improve traffic flow and visibility for pedestrians on the A592, one of the main routes into the town.

Double yellow lines will be introduced on Rayrigg Road, a disabled parking bay and motorcycle-only parking spot will be put in place outside the Tourist Information Centre on Glebe Road.

Committee chairman Coun Geoff Cook said: “We have listened to local concerns about road safety and the problems caused by nuisance parking in Ulverston and Windermere, and we feel it’s important we take action to tackle these issues.”