A ROAD-narrowing scheme in Kendal which sparked outrage among residents and commuters is to be scrapped by the local authority.

Cumbria County Council (CCC) ran a trial last year to see if the town'ss road network could accommodate Wildman Street being reduced to one lane of traffic.

It was part of a wider vision to create a cycle network through the town to encourage motorists to leave their vehicles at home.

The findings of the trial were due to go before the next meeting of CCC's Local Committee for South Lakeland.

However, at a meeting of the South Lakeland Highways and Transportation Working Group last week, it was decided not to pursue the plans.

"We couldn't see the way officers were going to make it work," said working group chairman Cllr Stan Collins. "It was too narrow and it was going to cause congestion and inconvenience.

"We also saw there was likely to be quite a lot of difficulty for people coming out of shops onto the pavement where there would bikes going past.

It wasn't going to work."

In August, a trial began to narrow the road to one lane, sparking fears it would create a bottleneck situation leading to congestion and pollution.

A spokesperson for CCC said: "Results of the trial show that narrowing of Wildman Street slightly increases travel time from Ann Street and Shap Road, however, travel time was reduced for those travelling from Station Road.

"As a result of this trial, we have decided not to proceed with widening the footway along Wildman Street. Instead advisory road markings on the carriageway will be installed along Wildman Street."

Under the scheme, traffic from Ann Street, Longpool and Station Road converged into one lane down Wildman Street on the approach to Stramongate Bridge, with water-filled barriers narrowing the width of the road.

Cllr David Evans, who represents the Kendal Mintsfeet ward on South Lakeland District Council, was critical of the proposal at the time and welcomed CCC's decision.

"The trial proved what we thought would be the case – that Wildman Street would not be improved and the traffic flow would be adversely affected," he said. "I think it's great they have decided not to go ahead with it."

The trial, originally planned for eight weeks, ended prematurely to minimise the impact of roadworks taking place on the new supermarket under construction on Shap Road.