The last time a new bridge was built across the river Trent, Connie Francis and Elvis Presley were topping the music charts. But soon, there will be another. Sam Hart reports.
The modern neighbourhood of Trent Basin feels a world away from the busy city centre of Nottingham.
The stylish houses and clean surroundings are complimented by a scenic walkway along the riverside.
But residents know that this was only the first step in Nottingham City Council’s plans to revamp the whole area.
Built over the last four years, the estate is part of the wider regeneration of Nottingham’s Waterside, a 22-acre site allocated for housing and community spaces.
A major feature of this scheme was the construction of a pedestrian and cyclist bridge, connecting the area to Lady Bay, West Bridgford and beyond.
Planned for completion by spring next year, Waterside Bridge will be the city’s first overpass since Clifton Bridge was opened in June 1958.
Just over the basin from the housing development, contractors Balfour Beatty are hard laying down the groundwork with rubble and diggers littered around the site.
David Brook, 68, lives close to where the construction of the bridge is taking place.
“At this point its taken so long for the council to get their plans approved that I just want them to get on with it,” he says.
“I believe this has been in the pipelines for years now and because of covid, the war in Ukraine among other things, it hasn’t started until this year.”
But David did not feel that the bridge will be a negative addition to the area, rather a welcomed and timely bonus.
“People round here just want to see a bit more action in the area, we don’t even have any sort of local shop or doctors round here.
“There’s a new school (Waterside Primary Academy) that was built just up the road but because there’s no intake it’s not been able to open yet.
“So hopefully with this new bridge and the further plans for more housing and connecting roads and pathways, we can get the school up and running as well as the community as a whole.”
Another focus of this venture is Nottingham City Council’s push to get more people travelling actively more often.
The council say they are working with landowners to find the best routes to ensure both cyclists and pedestrians have good connections to the bridge and beyond on either side.
They have also started improvements to pathways leading from the Trent Basin area to Colwick Park.
Ross Levy, a transport planner for cycling and walking projects at Nottingham City Council says that despite some difficulties, the bridge will benefit cyclists and pedestrians alike.
“There have been plenty of challenges along the way for the project team, before the bridge has even been put into place,” he says.
“The rising costs of materials, negotiation with landowners, particularly on the city side, and also consulting with existing user groups of the River Trent- for instance the local sailing group.
“There has been plenty of optimism and support for the bridge, but the reality of design and construction has been years in the making.
“The bridge will reduce journey times for those travelling actively and sustainably between West Bridgford and the eastern suburbs of Nottingham city – for instance Colwick and Sneinton.
“The bridge will also considerably improve the safety of this route as cyclists and pedestrians will be able to avoid the often congested Trent Bridge.
“Through having safer active travel routes, this increases the likeliness of overcoming barriers to more people traveling actively more often.
“The bridge connects the popular suburban town of West Bridgford and the new and emerging neighbourhood of Trent Basin.
“By being able to travel actively and sustainably between the two with greater ease, this has the potential to boost economic development in both these exciting residential areas.”
Yet for some residents of Trent Basin the current construction work is nothing but a problem.
Simon Burridge, 59, and his wife live directly opposite from the site.
He said: “I wouldn’t say it’s annoying but it’s definitely an inconvenience at the moment.
“But when the actual building of the bridge happens and all the heavy machinery and crane arrive, I’ll have a different answer.
“When we moved in around two years ago we thought the bridge would be completed by now so we just want to see it done on time.
“It’s such a lovely area round here and I think a lot of us are eager to see the final product and how it’s going to add to the look and feel of the place.”
But between now and spring David, Simon and the rest of the Trent Basin community will be seeing increasing activity as the project nears completion.
There are encouraging signs that it will be a success for the wider public and it will doubtless improve cycling and pedestrians links on either side of the river.
As for the residents nearby, there’s nothing they can do but sit tight and wait for spring.
