PLANS to spend millions on improvements to highways, public transport and cycling routes in South Lakeland are to be welcomed — and may even go some way towards assuaging motorists’ recent anger over the introduction of on-street parking charges.

The published proposals for Kendal suggest there will be something for everyone. Cyclists will be able to use new dedicated routes along Shap Road and Burton Road while motorists will see some road widening, improvements to signals and changing traffic flow priorities to ease congestion and limit delays.

For pedestrians, traffic-calming measures and walkway improvements at four locations, including Kendal Green and Parkside Road, will hopefully make their on-foot journeys safer.

There is even something in this for bus travellers through increased frequency of services. However, this measure highlights just how difficult it is to get the balance right in highways matters — more buses are likely to lead to more slower-moving, large vehicles on our roads, which could somewhat counter the benefits of the other traffic improvements.

But the proposals as they stand appear to have merit. They are certainly necessary given the expected rise in congestion which will follow the construction of thousands of new homes planned in Kendal over the next decade.

To help counter this, the proposals have a supplementary goal — to get five per cent of people travelling to work by cycle or on foot. A laudable aim.

However, the measures as a whole do not necessarily mean the town’s roads will remain problem-free. Kendal will always be a difficult place for motorists to negotiate, particularly given its ancient layout and limited crossing points over the River Kent and under the Lakes Line.

Also, poor public transport links with some of our remote surrounding villages mean people commuting to Kendal for work will always be tempted to use their cars, especially in the winter months when cycling into town is not an attractive option.

In the long run, perhaps, the best we can hope for is that these proposals will ensure the people of Kendal will be no worse off than they are at present.