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GC_A690 wrote:The shortlist of three potential names for the new bridge have been announced and, well... I hate my local council.
Me too.
I think that the names ‘Northern Spire’, ‘Lumen Point’ and ‘The Prism’ are just awful.
Who did they let decide these things?!
It shuld be obvious - Bob Stokoe Bridge, after the manager who led the 1973 FA Cup winning team. But perhaps that would draw attention to just how awful the current team is.
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That's shaping up to be a very impressive structure, and it certainly deserves a better name. The three on the shortlist look like the sort of name given to meeting rooms in a widespread transport undertaking I may be familar with...
Incidentally, I walked over the QAB one winter evening a few years back. High, isn't it? The group I was with, who I had only met that day, were somewhat bemused to see me gradually move as close as possible to the roadside girders!
Last time I was down there was for an auction of industrial equipment at the recently closed Crown Crane Works in about March 1999.
I was sent by a temp agency on behalf of a rival auctioneer who wanted me to attend and surreptitiously note down the prices each lot went for without drawing attention to myself. A career in industrial espionage probably wasn't for me as i managed to be featured on that evening's Look North report taking an interest in arc welding equipment looking very suspicious as an 18 year old in a suit who didn't look correct in context at an industrial auction at all.
Good to see some regeneration is coming to the area even if it has taken 20 years for anything to happen.
To this day it still baffles me at how extensive Sunderland and Washington's expressway network is. More grade seperated dual carriageways in Wearside than the whole of Wales it seems.
I'm really disappointed with the shortlist of names given. None represent the local area at all and I thought there would have been at least two or three choices of names that represented Sunderland, the immediate area or it's history. I thought the 'Lowery Bridge' would have been somewhere in the list of options. I know that was touted several months ago...
Indeed - who exactly has come up with the names provided?
Moyceyy wrote:
To this day it still baffles me at how extensive Sunderland and Washington's expressway network is. More grade seperated dual carriageways in Wearside than the whole of Wales it seems.
I think it may look better on the map. In Washington there is a lot and it is impressive definitely, but not Sunderland proper: the A19 is the only grade separated dual carriageway outside of the Washington new town developments. The roads in Washington don't have much impact on the rest of Sunderland.
Bear in mind that the A1 is in Country Durham/Gateshead, and that the A194(M) is split with Gateshead and either way carries more traffic for South Tyneside, which also contains the A184. The combined population of Sunderland & South Tyneisde is about 340,000 (ie more than any Welsh city other than Cardiff). The A194/A181, like the A19, also carry traffic for North Tyneside and Teeside.
There are a few other bits of D2 but actually look at eg the A1231 east of the A19 or the A690, these have lots of roundabouts, at-grade junctions, and 50MPH limits.
Moyceyy wrote:Looks like its gonna be a nice bridge.
To this day it still baffles me at how extensive Sunderland and Washington's expressway network is. More grade seperated dual carriageways in Wearside than the whole of Wales it seems.
The new bridge looks great.
Unfortunately, a large traffic light junction has been constructed on the north side of the bridge, where the new road
will join the A1231. In my view, this should have been designed to keep the traffic free-flowing. I do appreciate that
the designers were not starting with a clean sheet, but I think a golden opportunity has been missed.
Moyceyy wrote:
To this day it still baffles me at how extensive Sunderland and Washington's expressway network is. More grade seperated dual carriageways in Wearside than the whole of Wales it seems.
I think it may look better on the map. In Washington there is a lot and it is impressive definitely, but not Sunderland proper: the A19 is the only grade separated dual carriageway outside of the Washington new town developments. The roads in Washington don't have much impact on the rest of Sunderland.
Bear in mind that the A1 is in Country Durham/Gateshead, and that the A194(M) is split with Gateshead and either way carries more traffic for South Tyneside, which also contains the A184. The combined population of Sunderland & South Tyneisde is about 340,000 (ie more than any Welsh city other than Cardiff). The A194/A181, like the A19, also carry traffic for North Tyneside and Teeside.
There are a few other bits of D2 but actually look at eg the A1231 east of the A19 or the A690, these have lots of roundabouts, at-grade junctions, and 50MPH limits.
Yeah it was more in the way of Washington than Sunderland. I wasnt aware it was a new town - thats very interesting. It also makes a lot more sense - the new towns were built at a time when we thought huge roads were the future.
If anything - it surprises me South Wales hasnt got a more extensive network. Whether that is because of the geography or the preference of trains, I'm not sure.
I definitely agree with you - however, South east Wales is a very misinterpreted area. 1.47 million people live within 20 miles of Cardiff. Although its only a city of 350,000, its metropolitan region is extremely built-up (Newport, The valleys, Barry, Bridgend etc.) and surprises me every time I go there!
Bryn666 wrote:There are loads of new roads in the Valleys. In the 2000s every time I went a new road had appeared somewhere.
Also extent may be poor but South Wales has the utterly magnificent A470 expressway.
Agreed. South Wales has a mostly D3 strategic motorway, a high quality D2 second link (A40/A449), the glories of the A470 and a vast upgrade of the A465 ongoing, plus any number of recent roads up the valleys. By comparison, the similarly peripheral and relatively poor north east of England doesn't even have a fully motorway connection to the rest of the GB network yet.
As an addition to my last post, do we have a clear opening date yet? It all looks a bit vague to me, though the bridge itself seems to be coming along well.
What difference is this going to make to the traffic in Sunderland?
I'm guessing it won't make a massive difference to me as I'm usually coming in from the A19 and going to Roker Beach. Are there going to be any changes to the QAB gyratory, or making the QAB a public transport corridor? (They did that with the High Level Bridge in Newcastle-Gateshead)
Mark Hewitt wrote:What difference is this going to make to the traffic in Sunderland?
I'm guessing it won't make a massive difference to me as I'm usually coming in from the A19 and going to Roker Beach. Are there going to be any changes to the QAB gyratory, or making the QAB a public transport corridor? (They did that with the High Level Bridge in Newcastle-Gateshead)
It should make a big difference to the A1231 traffic in-bound which currently has to squeeze from a high speed dual carriageway into one lane around the gyratory and over the QAB, but I think it'll just be moving the problem to the southern tie-in of the new bridge until the next phase of the so-called 'Strategic Transport Corridor' is built. The only effect on your drive to Roker will be an extra set of traffic lights, and possibly a shorter queue approaching the QAB gyratory.
There haven't been any changes to the QAB mentioned anywhere, as far as I know. I imagine it will be downgraded to a B-road, possibly an extension of the B1405, but otherwise remain as it is now.
The group I was with, who I had only met that day, were somewhat bemused to see me gradually move as close as possible to the roadside girders!
