After the flood (muse)

[yoav]

You may know it's been a bit wet in Carlisle recently. Now that things are gradually returning to normal, I've had a chance to reflect on cycling in the city I call home.

Those that know Carlisle will know that the river Eden flows through it and there is only one crossing point in the city, the Eden Bridge (ignoring the railway bridge). For the first couple of days after the flood it was possible to cross the bridge on foot or bicycle but no motor vehicles were allowed. Normally 2 roads feed to this bridge from the south. Both of these are "urban motorways" - dual carriageway remnants of a inner city ring road that (thankfully) was never completed. Normally walking or cycling into town means crossing these via unsavoury underpasses. I'm sure you know of plenty of other similar urban monstrosities. However, on this occasion these roads were shut and thus I was able to enter the town centre by simply crossing the road, as nature intended, as it were. This was a very pleasant experience but was short lived.

Now the bridge has been closed to all traffic including pedestrian and bicycle as it is deemed unsafe. This means there is currently no way cross the river in the city. The only alternatives are the M6 to the east and the western bypass. The latter is a diversion of approx 8 miles. Needless to say, walking and cycling into town are not feasible options for most people so the only sensible option is to use the car (if they have one).

Such is progress 

[mcshroom]

I can imagine getting through the city by bike without Eden bridge is basically impossible. When I tried to use the Bypass on Monday (in a car) is was jammed solid too. Hopefully when they can get underneath and inspect the bridge then there's no damage and it can be reopened soon.

On the crossing of the A595 though i think there's some better news. I was reading of a plan recently to fit surface-level crossings between the Castle and the City centre, so you may be able to do that more easily when they complete that.
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/new-crossing-on-carlisle-s-castle-way-given-go-ahead-1.1229631

[T42]

Wouldn't it be nice if after inspection they decided to close the bridge to motor traffic permanently but leave it open it just for bikes and peds.

[Chris S]

Wouldn't it be nice if after inspection they decided to close the bridge to motor traffic permanently but leave it open it just for bikes and peds.

Bwahahahahah!!!! You don't live in the UK, do you? 

[Kim]

Wouldn't it be nice if after inspection they decided to close the bridge to motor traffic permanently but leave it open it just for bikes and peds.

Bwahahahahah!!!! You don't live in the UK, do you? 

Yeah.  That only happens if it's cheaper to build a new one for the motor traffic, and leaving the original for non-motorised traffic saves having to knock it down.

[sg37409]

See also Forth Road Bridge.
....or something like that

[rogerzilla]

I'm always amazed how much bridges cost and how long they take to build.  Even a crappy little one for an unclassified road over a stream seems to be a million quid or more.  Someone needs to invent a cheap and sturdy factory-made river bridge, a bit like the footbridges over motorways.  If the army can knock up a bridge in a few hours, it must be possible to build a permanent one in a few days.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The bridge deck is easy. The WW2 Bailey Bridge shows that. The difficult bit is the foundations and any piers to support multiple spans. They are tougher, particularly if you don't know exactly what you are founding your bridge on.

Solving those problems takes time and money. Who'd a thunk it?

[Exit Stage Left]

Further up the Eden there's a Bailey bridge in Langwathby that's been there since the old one was swept away in 1968.
http://www.langwathby.org/bridge.htm

[mcshroom]

Workington had the Barker Bridge from 2009-2011: -


It was for foot passengers only, but it was quite funny watching the bikers pushing their motorbikes over the bridge.

[yoav]

My fantasy bridge would be a Dutch style high level suspension bridge crossing the Eden, for cyclists and pedestrians only, *sigh*.

I had an interesting experience yesterday. After a week of driving to work, I got a bit stir crazy and decided to cycle to work via the bypass. Felt quite smug as I cycled past nose to tail slow moving traffic along the entire length of the bypass. On the way back, I decided to see if there was another way home. There was but as it involved riding through floodwater, I decided it wasn't really a practical alternative for now. However, it was quite nice to cycle along normally busy rat runs totally devoid of traffic.

[Exit Stage Left]

That's what they've got in Lancaster over the Lune. The route onward to the A6 is a bit of a dog's breakfast though. Preston has three different pedestrian/cyclist bridges over the Ribble.

[yoav]

I remember cycling over that one on the recent night ride to Morcambe. When it comes to cyclists' needs, Carlisle only goes as far as painting a line down the middle of the pavement, and usually not even that. We once had about 100m of dedicated cycle lane but they tore it up when they built the new Sainsbury's. The best we can hope for is that we are ignored by the authorities when we ride on paths and pavements.

Sadly, Carlisle already has a perfectly good bridge ideal for pedestrians and cyclists in the form of the old Waverley railway bridge but years of wrangling between the council and Railtrack as to who is responsible for it means it lies boarded up and overgrown. Every now and again, some enterprising person tears down the boards and it gets used for a few days until it gets closed again. Maybe it's that time again.