HOPES are rising that the A591 at Dunmail Raise will re-open to traffic earlier than expected.

The main road between Keswick and Ambleside was closed by a landslip when Storm Desmond hit at the beginning of December, effectively cutting the Lake District in two.

Kier Highways is repairing the road and Cumbria County Council had said it would reopen for spring bank holiday weekend at the end of May. But work is ahead of schedule and the council says it could reopen sooner.

Councillor Keith Little, the cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “We are now hopeful that the A591 will be open in advance of the bank holiday.

“This is great news and gives businesses in the area a clear date to plan for. It is of course subject to any unforeseen delays but as it stands this is very good progress.”

Although Stagecoach has been allowed to run an hourly shuttle bus between Keswick and Grasmere since February – using a resurfaced forest road – the route is not wide enough to open to other traffic.

The bus service has been popular, leading Stagecoach to lay on duplicate vehicles at busy times to cope with demand.

Businesses say the road closure is costing them dear and will hit even harder over the busy Easter and early May ban holiday weekends.

Nigel Wilkinson, managing director of Windermere Lake Cruises and chairman of the Lake District National Park Partnership’s Business Task Force, said: “Up until the end of March we have estimated that the loss could be up to £45m through the closure of the A591, but by the end of May that could accelerate to £100m so the difference so the difference is 55m – it is broadly £1m a day.”

Once repaired, the road will have a retaining wall to provide greater protection from the effects of erosion. This is being built using 4.5metre-wide concrete panels be supported by steel posts.