Why, why, why?

But NOT Delilah. Penrith is the strangest of places to move about in.
N. to S. no bother, S. to N. no bother. But just you try to cross town E. to W. or vice versa and you could find a route which renders walking a faster alternative.

This is a classic example. We can conceive of no logical reason  for the closure of this road, where a set of trafic lights would function perfectly well. It has NEVER been two cars wide and we've always managed with a touch of "After you Sir" now and then: when this whatever is finally built it will be the same size. BUT "they" in their infinite wisdom have closed it. Which means that to get to this point from our house I need to drive about 2 mls instead of 1/2ml, Leave town, traverse the A66 for a mile and re-enter town from the south.

I give up.