Barrow-in-Furness - Regeneration

Regeneration

The Waterfront

Many areas of the town have seen regeneration in the 1990s, and on 28 September 2007 Barrow's £200 million Dockland regeneration project began. Due to be completed by 2020, the project includes a new 'Barrow Marina Village' which will incorporate an £8 million 400-berth marina, 600 houses, restaurants, shops, hotels and a new state of the art bridge across Cavendish Dock. A large watersports centre is also being built, with the possibility of a cruise ship terminal. Some cruise ships are already scheduled to dock in Barrow, mainly for tourists to visit the Lake District, although there is no official cruise ship terminal yet. Dozens of cruise ships have visited the Port of Barrow in recent years.

Proposed bridges
A second bridge to Walney Island from mainland Barrow is planned to relieve congestion and as an aid to 24-hour access for the emergency services, most of which are based on the mainland.

For many years there have been discussions on the possible construction of bridges across Morecambe Bay and the Duddon Estuary, leading to the Build Duddon and Morecambe Bridges party contesting national elections in the borough of Barrow and Furness, receiving 409 (1.1%) votes in the 2005 general election.

Morecambe Bay Bridge
The controversial idea of a 12 miles (19 km) long road bridge connecting Barrow to the Lancashire coast across Morecambe Bay has long been proposed. More recently the design is said to have become more 'green' : if built, it would become one of the world's longest bridges and it is hoped that it might be capable of powering hundreds of thousands of home via such renewable sources as tidal power.

Duddon Estuary Bridge
A smaller bridge (some 3 km long) crossing the Duddon Estuary linking Askam and Millom would improve transport links to the area, cutting journey times from Barrow to parts of West Cumbria, but would require considerable finance. There has also been talk of building a road and rail tunnel under the Duddon instead of a bridge. There has been increased talk of this bridge since the announcement of Kirksanton on the North side of the Duddon Estuary being shortlisted as a site for a new nuclear power station.