Two unrelated sets of road works in Wyresdale and Bowland have caused a major upheaval to a Dales Bus summer Sunday bus service.
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| The locations of the road closures that will affect the 881 Dales Bus |
No doubt when Lancashire County Council gave permission for the works, at Marshaw Tower and in Slaidburn village centre, they would have considered the effect on local road users, but did they realise the enormity of the effect they would have on the bus service.
In Slaidburn, the road isn't completely closed, but a width restriction of 6ft 6in (1.92m) has been imposed on Church Street to allow building work on the wall of what the council erroneously refers to as the "Hark and Hounds" (sic) public house. With even a slim-line Optare Solo bus measuring 2.35m and a standard version 2.5m this is effect a road closure as far as Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire is concerned.
Even if it were possible to get through the restricted section of road, the closure at Marshaw Tower, for repairs to a retaining wall still makes it impossible to follow the registered route.
Neither are these short-term measures. The closure at Marshaw runs until 26th September, whilst the restriction at Slaidburn runs until 18th October, which is when the Dales Bus 881 is due to finish for the winter.
Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire and Dales Bus have had no option but to re-route the service. It's not a trivial diversion either. Because of the nature of the road network in the Bowland area there are no suitable routes for buses anywhere nearby. Instead the 881 will have to run on a completely different route along the northern boundary of the Forest of Bowland AONB through Bentham and Ingleton, missing out the Trough of Bowland road, which was one of its attractions to passengers, completely.
The following maps show the extent of the diversion.
Route until 8th August:
New route from 16th August:
Fortunately, the main function of the 881, which is to provide a link between Northern Rail trains at Settle and Malham Tarn and Village is unaffected, whilst for the rest of the summer there will be new direct links between Bentham, Ingleton and Malham. Passengers looking forward to a scenic ride through the Trough of Bowland will, however, be disappointed, whilst the sizeable settlements of Dunsop Bridge and Slaidburn will be unreachable by bus.
The new 881 timetable can be seen here: 881 New Timetable
