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Council Agrees Extra £450,000 To Build Replacement Walnut Bridge

Published on: 8 Jan, 2020
Updated on: 8 Jan, 2020

By Rebecca Curley

Local Democracy Reporter

Guildford Borough Council has been warned it does not have a “bottomless pit of money” after it was revealed an extra £450,000 is now needed to fund a pedestrian bridge already set to cost £3.4 million.

An artist’s impression of what the new Walnut Bridge will look like.

The Walnut Bridge Project, to replace the existing bridge over the River Wey, linking Walnut Tree Close and the Bedford Wharf area, with a wider one, was discussed at the council’s executive meeting on Tuesday, January 7.

At the meeting, it was decided that the £350,000 works to improve Bedford Plaza public space should be incorporated into the bridge scheme.

But the additional £450,000 spend approved for the bridge caused unease among some councillors.

Cllr John Redpath, (Residents for Guildford and Villages) who is not an Executive member, said: “It’s gone over budget. It’s a very sensitive subject from the previous administration and it’s more money being asked for.”

Fellow R4GV member Dennis Booth, also not on the Executive, said he felt the decision was being taken too easily and that the bridge was turning into a costly ornamental structure with what he claimed was no practical purpose.

He said: “I’m concerned that a figure of half a million pounds is really talked about quite glibly. It’s another half a million. When will it stop? This is not a bottomless pit of money.

“This is a folly and it’s time it was considered to be a folly and this project canned. I cannot believe we want to build this bridge at this present time when we are yet to even consider what will be done in this area.”

The replacement bridge is being planned to be wider than the existing bridge, for both cyclists and pedestrians and to include a ramp for disabled access.

The council already has planning permission and has an approved original budget of £3.4 million, of which £1.5 million will be funded by a grant from the Enterprise M3 LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership).

Planning permission was granted in 2018, but one of the conditions is that the public realm project to improve Bedford Wharf needs to be completed within six months of the bridge being built.

The council is concerned this could mean the bridge will be closed while Bedford Wharf is redesigned, so decided to carry out items such as lighting and landscaping at the same time as the bridge construction.

Original time frames had the new bridge being built by March 2020. A one-year extension to the LEP grant has already been agreed which means the cash must be spent by March 2021.

If the project is thrown out the council will have to repay that funding.

On Tuesday (January 7) councillors also criticised the design of the bridge, but Cllr David Goodwin, (Lib Dem), who sits on the Executive, said the current bridge is “not fit for purpose”.

He said: “When the weather is wet, windy or frosty it’s downright dangerous so therefore we do need a replacement. It should have been got rid of many years ago.”

The existing Walnut Bridge that dates from 1982.

The executive agreed for the extra half a million pounds to be transferred from other budgets into the Walnut Bridge project. Two members, Cllrs Joss Bigmore and John Rigg, both R4GV, voted against the transfer of the extra money.

The deputy leader pf the council, Fiona White, (Lib Dem), said: “I do think it’s important we go ahead with this project. This area needs to be tidied up. Building the bridge is an integral part of doing that. People have waited far too long for the improvements.”

The extra £450,000 will now be transferred from a capital contingency fund for the Walnut Bridge project and the £350,000 for the Bedford Plaza realm works will be transferred to the approved capital budget fund.

Background to Walnut Bridge project:

2012 – Reference is made in the Guildford Interim Town Centre Framework for a new wider Walnut Bridge.

2013 – Surrey County Council submits a number of expressions of interest to the LEP for funding for the Guildford Sustainable Transport Package.

2014 – A new Walnut Bridge is included in the Guildford Town and Approaches Movement Study and the LEP agrees a number of works can be brought together in the Guildford Sustainable Transport Package which includes the Walnut Bridge.

2015 – The project is incorporated into the Draft Local Plan.

2016 – A consultant is brought on board to carry out a feasibility study and report, and identify design options. A budget of £3.4m is set.

October 2018 – The council grants itself planning permission to build the bridge.

January 2020 – A further £450,000 is needed for the building of the bridge.

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Responses to Council Agrees Extra £450,000 To Build Replacement Walnut Bridge

  1. Jim Allen Reply

    January 8, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    A coat of paint would be more fiscally responsible.

  2. Pete Knight Reply

    January 9, 2020 at 12:35 pm

    It’s great news that this much needed project will go ahead.

    The current bridge aside from its appalling condition is far too narrow for such a key route between the town and station.

    It’s also such a poor first impression for anyone visiting who is overwhelmed by the dangerous route alongside the gyratory.

    Well done GBC one of the first major projects approved since the local election.

  3. Guy Sutlieff Reply

    January 9, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    Usually, I manage to see the logic of both sides of an argument, but in this instance I really can’t.

    Are the (apparently cash-strapped) council genuinely going to spend multi-million pounds to replace a perfectly adequate bridge with another one?

    As stated above, a coat of paint would suffice, and I have crossed it many many times over the years, and have yet to find it “downright dangerous” in any conditions. However if there are concerns, maybe a new non-slip surface would help?

    Maybe a coat of paint and a rubber floor costing a couple of thousand pounds then? Thus saving a few million pounds and not insulting the intelligence of every Guildford resident.

  4. Bibhas Neogi Reply

    January 9, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    The 4m wide footbridge is about 30m long (I do not have the precise dimensions) so has a 120 sq metre of deck area.

    Cost at about £4,000 per sqm would give a sum of £480,000.

    Ok, there are ramps on the east side about 60m long and even taking the same unit of cost, the total comes to three times at £1,440,000 or £1.44 million.

    So why is it costing £3.4m?

    It is a design and build tender so we will not know the actual cost but can the council give a breakdown of its own estimate?

    • Jeremy Oliver Reply

      January 10, 2020 at 6:05 pm

      Has anyone divided £3,850,000 by say 40m to give a cost per metre?

      How far removed from reality are we?

      At £10,000 per metre we should be able to have a beautiful steel bridge for £400k which would be much more sustainable than the concrete one, which seems to have been proposed.

      • Bibhas Neogi Reply

        January 14, 2020 at 3:16 am

        The concrete bridge is an artist’s impression. The bridge as drawn would be an unlikely choice.

        A deck with beams and a slab is more appropriate form of construction over a river.

        Beams are first lifted by a crane and placed in position. A slab is then cast. This form does not require temporary works during construction. It would be a bit messy otherwise in the water and mud!

        A deck with steel beams and a concrete slab is likely to be a contractor’s choice. I would guess four steel beams or girders would be required. An enclosure could be used to cover the beams if so desired.

  5. Mike Forster Reply

    January 10, 2020 at 11:15 am

    A totally unnecessary expense until the long-term future of the area around the existing cinema and now closed New Orleans restaurant / bar is settled.

    Another fine example of a much needed master plan for the town centre being prepared and approved.

  6. Dave Middleton Reply

    January 10, 2020 at 11:16 am

    I think I suggested this before, but if this bridge is to be replaced, rather than scrapping it, might it not be reused and installed at the bottom of Friary Passage, over the river to the car park by the George abbot pub?

    That would give a direct link to the bottom of North Street and take some of the pedestrian traffic off the crossing by Debenhams.

    It would then be possible to get to the town centre on foot, without having to cross any roads.

  7. Bibhas Neogi Reply

    January 12, 2020 at 9:26 am

    An alternative to the wrapped around ramp would be to curve it down to Bedford Road.

    The slope of the ramp would be 1 in 20, so no need for intermediate platforms.

    This ramp could be built between retaining walls tied together not unlike reinforced soil bridge abutments (we have these at the A3 ‘Dennis’ roundabout).

    I have shown this bridge as 6.3m wide capable of carrying buses.

    A cycle lane 1.2m wide separated by an upstand to prevent cyclists veering into the path of the buses.

    A 3.3m wide bus lane and a 1.8m wide footways.

    Retain the existing bridge as there is really nothing wrong with it. It just needs a lick of paint.

    Please see sketches associated with my website. In particular https://s1130.photobucket.com/user/Gyratory1/media/Bedford%20Bus%20Station%20%20rev2_zpsbjif7u7f.png.html?sort=3&o=0

  8. Valerie Thompson Reply

    January 13, 2020 at 10:37 am

    The direction of this bridge is pointless anyway, apart from the disgraceful waste of money that it will cost to replace it with GBC’s design.

    Much more important is a re-think of how visitors arriving by train make their way into the centre of town.

  9. David Smith Reply

    January 13, 2020 at 12:40 pm

    Not sure how a master plan is needed for this area first.

    Neither the river nor station are moving location and the suggestions to date are about opening up the river, so it’s unlikely that any master plan would propose building on the current open space.

    Furthermore, the Odeon appears to have been granted a new lease from GBC for 15 years.

    A lot of people complain but how many actually use this bridge on a daily basis? The alternative is walking along the narrow pavements of the dangerous Bridge Street.

    People also need to remember part of this is funded and if the bridge doesn’t go ahead that money needs to be returned.

  10. Karen Fredborg Reply

    January 13, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    I am a daily user of the bridge. I absolutely agree that something has to be done, it is too narrow, slippery as soon as it gets cold, poorly lit and not linked up to the station as there is no pedestrian crossing.

    At the underpass music students congregate – I do not mind this at all, they are always polite but it does add to the general feeling that there just isn’t enough space.

    It is the only alternative to Bridge Street for pedestrians to the north-east of the Odeon cinema and hundreds of children use it to go to school everyday – if they don’t go on the far more dangerous Bridge Street.

    A better link between the two parts of town would make it more attractive and get these youngsters away from the heavy traffic and pollution.

    Guildford is by no stretch of imagination known to care for other road users than motorists – now is the time to change this.

    • J Todd Reply

      January 14, 2020 at 3:38 pm

      I completely agree with Karen Fredborg.

      This bridge is used by so many people on a daily basis and is definitely in need of improvement.

      The ‘direction of the bridge’ is certainly not ‘pointless’, as one correspondent suggests.

      It is, among other things, the route to and from the station for all those living in our part of the town, it is a route to and from the University of Surrey for students and staff using the Yorkie’s Bridge / Walnut Tree Close route and for children travelling to and from the County School, as Karen mentions.

      The icing on the cake would be a crossing directly from the bridge across Walnut Tree Close to the station and it could very easily become the ‘main’ route from the station to the town centre with some simple signposting, passing through the improved Bedford Wharf.

      I certainly never use Bridge Street. My biggest concern about replacing the current bridge is how on earth we will manage without the it while the work is in progress.

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