FROM NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL
North Lincolnshire Council is seeking nearly £10m from the Government for a new railway bridge at A18 Melton Ross and to provide access to potential housing sites in Brigg.
The council has bid for £7.09m for the Melton Ross scheme; the overall cost of the scheme is £10.2m. The council will provide £1.36m and Humber Local Enterprise partnership will provide £1.75m towards the cost.
If successful, the Melton Ross scheme would see the construction of a new railway bridge and roads linking it to the A18. It would address the issues previously experienced with the existing bridge and improve access to Humberside Airport and journeys for all road users.
In addition to the £7.09m, the council also bid for £2.7m to provide infrastructure access to potential housing sites in Brigg. The total cost of this scheme is £3.575m. The council will contribute the remaining £875,000.
An announcement on whether the bids to the Department for Transport are successful is expected later in 2017.
The Government created the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) for investment in areas that are key to boosting productivity, including transport.
Cllr Rob Waltham, Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, pictured above, said: “If the bids are successful we will be able to progress with constructing a new much-needed railway bridge for the A18 Melton Ross. Over the past few years repair works have been carried out on the existing bridge as a temporary measure, which has caused disruption for road users. A new bridge is a long term solution and would improve road users’ journeys.
“This funding from the Government would also help us improve the infrastructure and enable the building of more homes in Brigg.
“We expect to hear from the Department of Transport later in this year as to whether we have been successful with our bids. The funding would open up more opportunities in North Lincolnshire, help create jobs and support our growth agenda.”
N.F. ADDS: Reckoning the public will be keen to know, we have asked the council to specify the locations of the potential sites for these roads in Brigg. No response so far. We wonder whether one might be a large new housing estate on land between the Springbank estate and the M180, connecting across Grammar School Road to Atherton Way. It could, perhaps, be linked to the A18 on Wrawby Road.
In ancient days when I was a freshman at uni, or, university, as 'uni' was not in common parlance in those far off times...there were a number of government sponsored schemes, published and circulated circa, 1966, under the title, 'The Feasibility Scheme for xxxxx'. There was one comprehensive document for Merseyside, another one for Severnside......they concentrated on the main geographical estuary site in England and Wales and proposed schemes of these areas would evolve.
ReplyDeleteThese Feasibilty Schemes had been thoroughly and deeply researched before publication and were considered major industrial, financial and social documents during the late 60s.
As a undergraduate geographer, a small team of us were given the Humberside Feasibilty to study, research one which to base a 1st year dissertation.
Humberside, at the time was alien to me..I lived in Shropshire and went to college in Birmingham.
I recall that the scheme proposed the Humber Bridge, a east-west motorway and improving the A15 to motorway standard to link the new bridge crossing and extending an express road to the north-east.
It examined the potential industrial development of both sides of the Humber and supported a major new town development, akin to Telford and Milton Keynes at a massive green field site to the east of a village called Melton Ross. It emphasised the potentional advantages of multiple transportation routes/centres in the region - seaport - international airport - motorway and a rail track that had direct access to the main east line and London.
The new town proposals contained fine details, such as the depth of the water table and its capacity to meet the needs of a high population and industrial demands. It even nominated local villages that could form the focus for retail/amenities centres within the prposed new town.
Since the 70s we have seen the piecemeal developments of these proposals....and indeed, we now have a route network (apart from the A15 improvement) that seems to exceed the needs of both the local population and industrial needs.
New town expansion in various parts of the UK appear to have become moribund since the 70s....but our population is growing: the government has indicated the need for several towns, similar in size to Bristol, to be constructed during the next generations.......consequently, will some government body rediscover a dusty copy of the Humberside Feasibilty Scheme and realise that many development suggestions for the South Bank were produced 50 odd years ago...and start to take it seriously?
We still await the station area at Brigg to be redeveloped, time to get a move on please
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