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Of course, my father and I are already working out the best way to get a look under the bridge rather than on top of it!
Depends how much you want to see - use footbridge on line of old Corris railway and path on south side of river?
Our plan was to rappel off the southern approach to the river bridge section
But aye, its pretty easy to get under it either from the old railway or the cycle track. I'd imagine this walkabout would be pretty tightly controlled for H&S/liability reaosns, but we are a sneaky pair! It also helps being very local, so we know who to approach on the QT if we really do need to have a good old nose at it.
Last edited by rhyds on Tue Jan 02, 2024 11:17, edited 1 time in total.
Of course, my father and I are already working out the best way to get a look under the bridge rather than on top of it!
Can't get there sadly, hope you get decent weather for it. One of the most important bridges to open in Mid Wales IMV, it needs a lot more positive attention.
Knowing our luck it'll be soaking wet (hence wanting to look under it) given how much of an "active test" the new flood defences have been under over the last few weeks. As for the scale and importance of the bridge its up there with the widening at Glandyfi about 10 years ago and the Newtown bypass as a strategic improvement in the North and Mid Wales trunk roads network. Given the recent policy and budgetary changes by the Welsh Government I doubt we'll see such a major upgrade in the region for another 5-10 years at least.
Indeed, as I have said many times, new roads in themselves are not the problem - it is new roads that are designed to just create yet more driving trips to giant shed developments that are. Rural areas rely on good roads that don't close every time there's a drop of rain. See also the A83.
The WG needs to realise this distinction when it applies a blanket ideology - I had thought their "safety/connectivity" exemptions would be enshrined.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
Bryn666 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 11:28
Indeed, as I have said many times, new roads in themselves are not the problem - it is new roads that are designed to just create yet more driving trips to giant shed developments that are. Rural areas rely on good roads that don't close every time there's a drop of rain. See also the A83.
The WG needs to realise this distinction when it applies a blanket ideology - I had thought their "safety/connectivity" exemptions would be enshrined.
To be honest I've always seen the "Climate Emergency" as a very convenient justification for cancelling roads projects for the simple reason that post COVID/Ukraine inflation and serious pressures on WG budgets would have involved cancelling them all anyway. The same thing happned with the Smart Motorway schemes in Englandshire IMO, find a politically advantageous excuse to cancel projects you can't really afford any more in order not to let a good crisis go to waste.
Of course, it was the opposite kind of political pressure that led to the bridge being built in the first place, as the project was part of the Lib Dems demands for voting through a Labour budget as they were trying to recapture Montgomeryshire from the Tories.
rhyds wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 11:51The same thing happned with the Smart Motorway schemes in Englandshire IMO, find a politically advantageous excuse to cancel projects you can't really afford any more in order not to let a good crisis go to waste.
It's notable that the government had held out against the anti-Smart Motorway lobby for years before inflation started to make its road programme unaffordable.
rhyds wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 11:51The same thing happned with the Smart Motorway schemes in Englandshire IMO, find a politically advantageous excuse to cancel projects you can't really afford any more in order not to let a good crisis go to waste.
It's notable that the government had held out against the anti-Smart Motorway lobby for years before inflation started to make its road programme unaffordable.
You may very well think that, I couldn't possibly comment...
Well the walk and fun run were held today, and it was a great community event. Tickets sold very well (figures suggested were around the 300 mark) and organisation was very good.
The bridge itself seemed to be a decent design but does look like it'll open with a 50mph limit (apparently due to the curve at the south end and the A493 junction), but thankfully it does look like overtaking will be permitted (great for passing buses and tractors!)
I took a few photos during the day and have thrown them up on flickr
Thanks for the photos, although I had to get to the laptop to view them - the cookie permissions pop-up screen seemed to block everything when I tried on my phone.
Is the reopened arch under the railway (final photo) intended for cycles, pedestrians or both, do you know?
Chris5156 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 14, 2024 11:25
Thanks for the photos! It’s an impressive structure. Is there a footpath along the bridge or is it just a paved verge?
I'm not sure what it is officially but there weren't any "no pedestrians" signs and the northbound lane side had a continuous verge/path that's pretty wide. The only really concerning thing is the drainage channel and small (50mm ish) covers over it and white line are the only deliminators.
FleetlinePhil wrote: ↑Sun Jan 14, 2024 12:34
Thanks for the photos, although I had to get to the laptop to view them - the cookie permissions screen seemed to block everything when I tried on my phone.
Is the reopened arch under the railway (final photo) intended for cycles, pedestrians or both, do you know?
The small concrete lined arch in the last pic is signed for cyclists (there's a "cyclists rejoin carriageway" sign at the end) and I guess will be shared use. The existing A487 route and the old bridge is being retained for NMUs so that, along with the existing footpath and suspension bridge provides loads of NMU access
Well the bridge should be opening today (Around lunchtime I believe). Annoyingly I'm in work so can't go down today, but might pop down over the weekend to have a nose.
rhyds wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 09:32
Well the bridge should be opening today (Around lunchtime I believe). Annoyingly I'm in work so can't go down today, but might pop down over the weekend to have a nose.
rhyds wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 09:32
Well the bridge should be opening today (Around lunchtime I believe). Annoyingly I'm in work so can't go down today, but might pop down over the weekend to have a nose.
