Carlisle Southern Link Road invites businesses to tender in September
Cumbria County Council are inviting businesses to tender for the construction works contract in September, for the multi-million-pound Carlisle Southern Link Road.
Initially the project was originally intended to commence in Spring 2022, however this was deferred in March by the Cumbria County Council's Cabinet, due to the ongoing uncertainty associated with supply chains, the cost of construction materials and rising energy costs, caused by several factors including Brexit and Covid, which is being exacerbated by events in Ukraine.
Following the County Council’s Cabinet Meeting in July the Cabinet members agreed that the CSLR Project should be moved to the procurement stage for the main construction contract.
A prior information notice (PIN) was issued during w/c 15 August which is the first step of the procurement. A soft market testing questionnaire was issued along with a suite of documents for bidders to review. Responses to the questionnaire will inform the final procurement documents to be issued in September.
The works costs are now estimated to be in the region of £150 million with additional funding now being sought from the Housing Infrastructure Fund via Homes England.
Procurement is currently programmed to award the works contract in March 2023, subject to the ongoing funding from Homes England and council approvals.
Once funding has been secured, works will be initiated. The route will include new junctions linking existing radial routes into Carlisle and the proposed St Cuthbert’s Garden Village, connecting Junction 42 of the M6 with the A595 to the west.
It will also include bridges over two main railway lines and the Caldew and Petteril rivers, a network of footways and cycleways and an extensive programme of landscaping and environmental mitigation.
The 8km long road will provide vital infrastructure to relieve congestion in Carlisle and provide the access and network capacity to enable the successful and accelerated delivery of St Cuthbert's Garden Village.
Cumbria County Councillor Keith Little, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport said,
“The council remains committed to finding a way to address challenges and we are in intensive dialogue with Carlisle City Council and Government to continue to make progress with this multi-million-pound scheme which is vital for the growth of Carlisle and unlocking housing for St Cuthbert's Garden Village project.
“This is an exciting scheme which will link roads and vastly improve east to west connectivity as well as unlocking the delivery of St Cuthbert’s Garden Village, a Carlisle City Council scheme, which aims to deliver 10,000 new homes, infrastructure and employment to Carlisle and the wider county.”
Cumbria County Council and Carlisle City Council submitted a request to Government for additional funding to deliver the Carlisle Southern Link Road project and to unlock St Cuthbert's Garden Village and are awaiting notification from Homes England, the government's housing agency, if this funding application has been accepted.
The Housing Infrastructure Fund is administered and monitored by the government's housing agency, Homes England. The programme is helping to deliver up to 300,000 new homes across England by providing local authorities with grant funding for new infrastructure, to unlock homes in areas of greatest housing demand.
To read more about the CSLR please go to www.cumbria.gov.uk/cslr
For more information about St Cuthbert’s Garden Village please go to www.stcuthbertsgv.co.uk
