Cumbria County Council has unveiled the design for the replacement of Gooseholme Bridge in Kendal and is now launching a four-week period of public engagement on Monday 8 July to help refine this prior to finalisation of the design and the commencement of construction.
A replacement structure is needed because Gooseholme footbridge was one of hundreds bridges in Cumbria damaged or destroyed by Storm Desmond in December 2015.
The proposed design is a single span bridge which will improve water flow under the bridge by removing the piers from the river and reduce the construction time on site. The replacement structure will be fully accessible to all bridge users and wider than the original footbridge to provide shared access for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users.
The county council is delivering the £1.65m bridge project as part of its Infrastructure Recovery Programme. The scheme will be jointly funded by Cumbria County Council, the Environment Agency and South Lakeland District Council.
A public engagement period is taking place between 8 July and 2 August 2019. Stakeholders and the public will be invited to comment on the design to help refine the proposed bridge during the detailed design stage.
An information drop-in session will be held at Kendal Town Hall on Wednesday 24 July, from 12 noon-6pm. Two information displays will be available for viewing at Kendal Library (15-26 July) and Westmorland Shopping Centre (co-located with Environment Agency information point).
Comments can be made by emailing [email protected] or by filling in a comment slip at one of the information displays.
More information on the replacement bridge project will be available on the county council’s website at cumbria.gov.uk/gooseholmebridge/.
Cllr Peter Thornton, Deputy Leader of Cumbria County Council and Local Member of Kendal Strickland and Fell, said: “Gooseholme footbridge was closed for public safety reasons after being damaged by Storm Desmond. It’s highly valued by local residents and I’m delighted that the design of the replacement bridge will provide better access and be wide enough for both pedestrians, disability scooters and cyclists.
“The county council has tried hard to create an iconic structure for Kendal and our public engagement launch marks a key milestone in the project. Closing the footbridge has caused inconvenience to local residents and I’d like to thank them for their patience during this period.”
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Our Kendal Scheme project team have worked closely with Cumbria County Council’s Gooseholme Footbridge team to ensure that the bridge design is flood resilient and helps reduce flood risk, as part of our wider investment plans to deliver new flood defences in Kendal, Burneside, Staveley and Ings.”
Subject to planning permission being granted, the existing footbridge bridge will be demolished in August and September 2019. Removing the bridge during this period will enable the construction of the new bridge to start as early as possible in 2020.
The county council is working closely with the Environment Agency to ensure the new bridge design meets the requirements of EA’s Flood Risk Management scheme for Kendal.
