With the Northern Development Route road due to open in the very near future we thought we would take a quick look whilst it is still quiet and a pleasure to walk along.
The building of this road has been in planning for what seems hundreds of years and is designed to link the west of the city to the north and remove a lot of through traffic from the city centre.
Although much of the building work is now complete, the road is still not officially open and as such we needed to keep our ears open and our eyes wide observing for possible dangers.
A number of walkers and cyclists are taking advantage of the new river crossing to get to and from the Kingstown area of the city and with the warm sunny conditions we thought we should take a look.
Getting to the new road
Parking the car as near to the new Moorhouse Road roundabout as we could we soon realised that we could not safely get to our starting position.
Currently about 500m of road needs to be walked along before you get to the new paths, which all look very impressive with the cycle and road markings all painted on.
So here starts our grand adventure and we have a good wide path to explore.
As the road is not open to traffic we were able to explore in reasonable safety. In the quiet early morning we were able to hear the birds singing in the hedgerows and the sound of our own paws on the tarmac.
Sadly in a few weeks time, when the road opens, you will possibly not be able to hear anything except the thunder of traffic.
Trees planted
Stretching alongside the path was a river of black plastic stretched along the ground between green tubes.
Overnight rain had collected in puddles on the plastic and, in the sunshine, created a river of twinkling water droplets as if flowing in a stream.
We wasted no time in going for a paddle and soon realised that we could get our paws really soggy as we ran between the natural puddles.
Peering down the green tubes, mum told us that they contained holly plants and a number of saplings including oak, ash and I think she said birch.
The new River Eden Bridge
As we approached the highlight of our walk, the River Eden Bridge, is sympathetically installed to get people across the river.
Peering down over the edge of the road we could see what a big operation it must have been to install this structure.
At this point we moved towards the middle of the road to stay away from the path edge.
The bridge appears not to be finished, as metal safety netting still needs to be installed to avoid things, and us, going under the lower part of the safety fencing and dropping to the water below.
Flood culverts
Giant culverts have been constructed under the northern end of the bridge to allow river water to escape in the event of flood.
Without these giant pipes, water could possibly build up on the city side of the bridge and cause damage and undue pressure on the bridge and other structures upstream.
As we walked along the path we noticed that thousands of bolts had been installed on the assorted safety barriers and rails.
Closer inspection showed that many of them had all sorts of code numbers and details.
Dad tried to work out how many bolts may have been used, but gave up once he had used up all of his fingers.
Ponds
Situated just a little off the main carriageway we spotted this recently created pond.
All full of muddy water and looking a bit lifeless we wondered what it could be used for.
A number of ideas were suggested including a reed bed to clear any pollution from the road drains to a wildlife and duck pond.
Maybe you know what it is for, as it did look as if quite a bit of work had gone into its construction?
Long sweeping bends
Looking down from the hill, overlooking the western end of Carlisle, we have to say that we were very impressed with the way the road has snaked its way through the countryside and not really made much impact beyond the grass verges.
Currently, streetlights have not been installed, so the road could be quite dark at night and, with the long sweeping bends vehicle speeds could become a problem.
Another thing we noticed is the lack of controlled crossing points for pedestrians.
It will be interesting to see if you can actually cross this road, safely, when it opens.
Sadly the peace and quite we have experienced on our walk will soon disappear. However, it may make the streets of the inner city a little more quiet and in turn safer.
In summary, we have been amazed with how quickly this road has been built, but have grave concerns about many safety aspects, which should have been built out at the design stages, still exist, especially as it is a new road on a green field site.
No doubt some wise sage will say it is all down to money!
Until next time
Buster and Charlie