WHEN you are close to something you don’t always appreciate how good it is or how well you are doing. The classic 'not seeing the wood for the trees'.

Sometimes I feel that this is the case with Carlisle. As I have said many times, Carlisle has moved on from being the 'Border' city to becoming the 'regional' capital.

It was recently described by Simon Reeves as a 'gem' and when I have family or friends visiting, they are always very complementary.

I recently became more aware of this when considering the amount of investment coming into the city and the changes which we are starting to see across our city.

This was further highlighted when I was chatting with some of my parliamentary colleagues. One was referencing the investment going into his area which amounted to several million. When I commented that our area was seeing public sector investment (let alone private sector) in the region of half a billion pounds he was astonished.

And yes, it really is happening. The ring road, station refurbishment, university, hospital developments... I could go on.

However, if Carlisle is to be a truly successful city and be transformed for the long term, such investment needs to keep coming.

I have for many years campaigned on seeing improvements to the A69 and the A595. Two vital road arteries to our city and the wider region which, if improved, would help enormously at many different levels from safety, connectivity through to health benefits.

On the A69 the immediate need is for the A689 (airport road) to be upgraded and trunked whilst the Brampton roundabout to the M6 (through Warwick Bridge) should be de trunked.

This would improve the lives of many people along this route and remove heavy vehicles from going along roads and over bridges which were never built for such vehicles.

As for the A595, it needs a fundamental overhaul. It may not necessarily be dualled but straightening sections and introducing passing lanes would improve safety and dramatically reduce journey times to acceptable times.

This is where the demise of the HS2 project has a silver lining. This week’s announcement of £148million for road improvements in the Cumberland area is a once in a generation game changer for the region.

It really is a huge level of financial commitment from the Government to the area.

Ironically cancelling the HS2 route has given localities right across the North a unique opportunity to transform some of their key roads which will undoubtedly bring about significant benefits to all these areas.

For us these funds are enough to carry out the improvements I have suggested. A real opportunity to cement Carlisle as the regional capital and build a connected and prosperous north Cumbria.