Plans to totally renovate the redundant tramway pier in Ryde have been unveiled as part of the £96.5 million Ryde Gateway Project.
The scheme, between authorities in Hampshire, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, as well local transport operators, announced in September 2020, was successful in securing funding to upgrade Ryde transport interchange, and other areas.
Projects in Ryde received £10 million of the £96.5 million funding, £56 million of which came from the government and its Transforming Cities Fund.
The remaining cash came from local authorities and their partners. The funding must be used and all projects completed by March 2023. Now, Wightlink has submitted plans to the Isle of Wight Council to develop the tramway pier into a dedicated cycle and pedestrian walkway.
The new walkway and cycle track will link Ryde Esplanade, the pierhead, and, via fastcat, Portsmouth Harbour Station, as well as securing the long-term survival of the structure. The alternative to the main pier is aiming to offer a safe pathway, not shared with vehicles.
The Ryde Tramway Pier is Grade II listed and was added to the existing pier structure in 1864 to provide a horse-drawn tramway. It was taken out of use in 1969 and was blocked for access at both ends.
Following an inspection of the tramway, chartered engineers recommended all of the existing superstructure steelwork and cross bracings be removed and replaced, having suffered from extensive and severe corrosion and being in ‘very poor condition’.
Some of the steel structure has very large holes in and there is a risk pieces of steel will become dislodged and fall into the sea.
They say there is no realistic possibility of retaining any sections within the refurbished structure apart from the cast-iron screw piles, which are the oldest part of the existing pier, that have sufficient structural capacity for the proposed new use.
The committee dealing with the overall Ryde Gateway Project has decided the decking of the pathway will be grey for pedestrians and green for cyclists, which will be echoed in the wider scheme.
Seating and shelters will also be provided at intervals along the pier but their appearance has not been decided yet due to a consistent theme needed to be found throughout the wider scheme.
Planning documents say the width of the new decked area will be 6m with a length of 620m but will be unable to widen near to the pierhead, following the track, due to funding restrictions.
The documents say there is no reason why it could not be done at a later date if funding becomes available.
Access to the pathway will be via the redeveloped Esplanade Station, carried out by Southwest Trains under the same government scheme.
Comments on the application, 21/01150/LBC, can be submitted until July 16 via the Isle of Wight Council’s planning register. Documents relating to the plans can also be viewed there.
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It will be nice to walk up the pier and not chance to be run over
There was already a “temporary” walkway there a couple of years ago when they were redoing the pier. They should have just left that there and not torn it down- would have saved a lot of money!
It will be a great relief to drivers also, no longer needing to brake sharply or swerve to avoid pedestrians pulling wheeled baggage stepping off their narrow walkway to pass or avoid each other. With a very low speed limit in force, a driver cannot afford to stop monitoring speed, as displayed on the reactive speed-displays & also on the vehicle speedometer, in addition to keeping an eye on approaching vehicles. Pedestrians moving into the road-way, evidently assuming they have a greater right to be there than motorists, make the system dangerous & potentially fatal. A separate pedestrian & cyclist pathway system is the only possible remedy & is essential for all concerned. It is a great relief to have the funding at long last for us to move into present-day conditions. With luck it will remain an acceptable remedy in future.
Could they do the hover travel gateway too, you know, the redundant Ice Rink as you arrive in Ryde
“All projects must be completed by March 2023”
There is no wty a project of this type could be completed by then, so it aint gonna happen folks – the money will be frittered away elsewhere.
Walkway too low. The sea at highest tides laps against the road as it is.
This is a start The whole of the Island needs an upgrade
Including some of the residents!
Excuse my ignorance but who actually owns the pier ?? And will therefore be the main benefactor of this use of public money ???
wightlink own most of the pier and National Rail have the track part – if i am not much mistaken
as a yardstick – look how long it is taking to get the trains running again – and they plan to tear down the old tramway and rebuild it – which can only be done at low tide – so a few hours a day then, at best, until the new pylons are hammered in and it is built up to an above sea level height.
I’m a former “Islander ” and welcome worthwhile improvements . But I still think ferry fares are the biggest bone of contention
I predict that once pedestrians are moved away from vehicles, there will be collisions between vehicles that we’ve not seen the like of before.. It’s been well-researched that when an appropriate piece of road is clearly shared between different types of user, counter-intuitively, speeds decrease and a sense of caution prevails all round. It’s been such an obviously tricky thing, on the pier, to have vehicles and people with no physical divisions between, that people have kept their eyes peeled and lowered speeds. Watch out when it’s just motorised vehicles on there, and no pedestrians to look out for..