By Lee Trewhela

A proposed cycle and pedestrian crossing in the heart of a busy Cornish industrial estate is “fundamentally flawed” and will put cyclists and pedestrians in danger, according to a safety report. 

The fate of the flagship Town Deal bridge project will be decided at a crunch meeting tomorrow (Thursday, June 12).

Cornwall Council wants to put a diagonal 12-metre crossing across Newham Road on the Newham Industrial Estate in Truro to access a proposed lifting bridge between Lighterage Quay and Boscawen Park to create a walking and cycling loop around Truro harbour.

However, businesses in Newham – which is home to 180 companies employing around 1,500 people – fear the crossing could put pedestrians and cyclists at risk from heavy goods vehicles using the estate, where there are around 2,000 vehicle movements every day.

While not opposed to the bridge in principle, they are calling for a fundamental rethink on how it would be accessed from the nearby Newham Trail and have published a video highlighting their concerns, which you can view above.

The bridge is the flagship project of the £23.6m Town Deal plan to revitalise Truro. A planning application from Cornwall Council was due to go to its councillors in April but was pulled after opposition from Truro City Council and the police over safety concerns. Natural England also opposed the proposal due to potential environmental impact.

During a Truro Town Deal Board meeting in March, the project team acknowledged the need to explore alternative bridge designs which could significantly reduce costs – these included a swing bridge and the operational model of the existing bridge.

A swing bridge could be less harmful to the surrounding habitat, as well as costing less than a lifting one. The project team had started a study to explore this. The board will be asked to make a definitive decision of options at its meeting tomorrow (Thursday, June 12)

The Newham Business Improvement District (BID), whose role is to promote Newham as a business location and to support businesses on the estate, has highlighted a safety assessment of the bridge access proposals it commissioned from a firm of transport consultants, TPA (Transport Planning Associates).

The TPA report concludes: “The various risks to vulnerable road users add up to a scheme that is fundamentally flawed, will generate additional cycle and pedestrian traffic and will place those cyclists and pedestrians in danger.” The report adds that Cornwall Council’s own safety audit of the scheme “highlights multiple safety concerns which have not been mitigated but rather have simply been accepted.”

BID chair Leigh Ibbotson said: “The main concern is one of safety. The amount of traffic going through this junction now is huge and we’d see walkers and cyclists all crossing the widest point of the junction from corner to corner to go to the bridge. The original plan was to have a boardwalk along the edge of the river and then the majority of the people coming from Truro would not have to cross any roads at all. Our message to Cornwall Council and the Town Deal Board is either do this safely and properly, or don’t do it at all.”

Cameron MacQuarrie, managing director of Macsalvors crane hire, which employs 70 people at Newham and operates more than 100 vehicles including 37 heavy duty cranes which would pass over the proposed crossing daily, is also concerned.

He said: “At the moment it’s just one massive compromise that just isn’t going to work. The safety in this is paramount. The bridge we don’t have an issue with, it’s the access to and from the bridge and making it safe that is the problem.” The BID has highlighted its concerns to both the Town Deal Board and Cornwall Council.

A spokesperson for the Truro Town Deal Board said: “The design has been developed on behalf of Cornwall Council by Cormac, who have a wealth of experience in delivering transport projects for Cornwall, on behalf of the highways authority.

"This process has involved extensive engagement with a number of key stakeholders, including Newham BID. Throughout the design process the engineers have sought to balance the needs of all users, working within the identified constraints.

“In accordance with standard process, the final design has been subject to a robust road safety audit carried out by an independent, highly qualified and experienced team of highway safety engineers. Whilst it is recognised that concerns continue to be expressed by some individuals, the responsibility for ensuring the safety of the scheme resides with Cornwall Council as highways authority.

“Having extensively examined the options, taking into consideration the constraints of the site, the feedback from stakeholders, including Newham BID and Truro City Council, and reviewing the results of the independent safety audit, Cornwall Council as highways authority are satisfied with the safety of the recommended proposal.”

The Truro Town Deal Board meeting takes place at County Hall, Truro, at 3pm on Thursday, June 12, but isn’t open to the press or public. It will also discuss other Town Deal projects including Truro Community Hub, Boscawen Sports Hub, New Life for City Buildings and plans for Lemon Quay and Town Quay.

Julia Penhaligon adds:  Many Cornwall councillors are concerned that their local divisions will be asked to pay the revenue costs of maintaining a new Truro river bridge, if it is ever built.

All bridges, but particularly lifting bridges and swing bridges, need regular maintenance.  Neither the Town Deal board nor Truro City Council has the budget to meet these costs.

In theory, if the bridge to Boscawen Park (which will benefit mainly cyclists and pedestrians) were to be designated as a “strategic route” there might be a case for County Hall funding.  But this would be to stretch the definition of “strategic” to far beyond conventional uses of the English language.

A North Cornwall Liberal Democrat told Cornwall Reports:  “We have just worked our socks off to get elected in places like Bude and Launceston.  We promised to cut the debt and spend nothing unless it was essential.   This bridge is a jolly nice idea for the residents of Truro who want to cycle to their park.  It might be nice for tourists.  But it’s a luxury.  It won’t benefit North Cornwall one jot.  If Truro wants it, Truro should pay for it themselves.”

If tomorrow's Town Deal board does abandon the idea of a lifting bridge, attempting to pursue anything cheaper, it will have wasted millions of pounds in design and consultancy fees.  Questions are bound to be asked about how and why such an ambitious, expensive project was allowed to start without even the most basic research to estimate the likely costs.