Carlisle bridges
There were going to be three Millennium bridges
within the administrative boundaries of the City of Carlisle. However, an early
idea of a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the river Eden was quashed by an
unsympathetic City Council, so now there are only two.
The
Irish Gate bridge was constructed as a pedestrian bridge linking the Castle with
the City Centre over the busy Castle Way which serves as the northern relief
road for the City. It is a true Millennium Bridge, with funding from the
Millennium Commission and was opened on 9 October, 2000. The name Irish Gate
refers to the fact that it was constructed near the site
of an old medieval city gateway of the same name. Architects for the £650,000 project were the Newcastle-based Jane
Derbyshire and David Kendall partnership. Kier Group was the main contractor and
Arup were consultant engineers.
Because of
the restricted pace on the south side of the bridge, there was no room to put in
ramped access up to bridge level, and lifts were put in at both ends for
disabled access. However, the lifts were not working at the time of my visit,
and as far as I can discern, they have not been working for a long time, if
ever, a disgraceful state of affairs, forcing disabled users onto a long and
hazardous diversion.
Eventually, tacit
acknowledgement of the near-total uselesness of this bridge resulted in the
construction in 2017 of a toucan crossing over Castle
Way by the junction with
Castle Street some 120 metres further east. The £400,000 cost of the scheme was
funded by Sainsbury's. It will be interesting to see whether demolition of the
bridge will follow.
I have a personal interest in the bridge which spans the river Lyne between Westlinton and Sandysike, about 9 km north of the City. In 1993, on only my second project working for Sustrans, I visited Cumbria and Northumberland preparing a report on cycle routes between Carlisle and Kielder Forest, a sort of precursor to the Reivers Cycle Route (National Cycle Network Regional Route 10).
It rapidly became apparent to me that cyclists riding north out of Carlisle face a serious problem with traffic, as their way northwards is blocked by the River Esk or its tributary the River Lyne. Crossing the mouth of the Esk at Metal Bridge on the A74 is my abiding worst cycling nightmare, whilst the bridge carrying the A7 over the River Lyne at Westlinton is not exactly pleasant either. But what I did discover is that the piers which supported the old "Waverley" railway line from Carlisle to Edinburgh were still in place and in good condition.
I was therefore delighted to learn that my idea of constructing a light structure supported by the existing piers eventually bore fruit. In
September 2000, a new bridge was put in place, together with 1700 m of new path along the line of the old railway, thereby providing a safe, if circuitous link for cyclists between Carlisle and Longtown
