This paper examines some of the options to be considered in trying to lessen traffic congestion in one of Britain's most popular national parks. The Lake District National Park encompasses most of England's highest mountains, and the heavily-glaciated landscape makes for difficult road communications. Millions of visitors pour into the park each year, mostly by car, where they conflict not only with each other but also with the local inhabitants on a road system designed for the horse and cart and constrained by the mountain environment. Among the solutions considered are the diversion of non-tourist traffic around the park, the development of alternative destinations in the general region, the rationing of traffic, reduction of the road network, the improvement of traffic flow, and the development of public transport. One of the major problems is that in the Lake District, unlike in U.S. national parks, there is a long-standing resident population, with such interests as farming, quarrying, manufacturing and retailing, as well as a significant number of retirees. This population has, over the centuries, developed a network of farms, villages and small towns, and also a significant number of minor public roads connecting with the outside world. Any planning for tourist access has to take into account the social and economic needs of this population; many of whom have no dependence on tourists for a living, and who are often resentful of tourists and the changes that they bring about—a resentment that dates back at least as far as the poet Wordsworth's spirited but vain objection to the intrusion of the railroad into the Lake District.
Roads and Traffic in The English Lake District National Park
Problems and Planning Options
Tourism Recreation Research ; 18 , 1 ; 33-37
1993-01-01
5 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Road-user charging and the Lake District National Park
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