London,
22
July
2016
|
13:24
Europe/London

HS2: Little change to Hampstead Road Bridge in HS2 Ltd's new plans

HS2 Ltd has published their revised proposal for the Hampstead Road Bridge today – with their preferred option showing only a small potential reduction in height of the bridge they proposed last September in Additional Provision 3. 

HS2 Ltd’s new proposal shows the height of the bridge proposed in AP3 could be reduced between 0.5m and 1m – with residents facing the same amount of construction disruption.

Camden residents and businesses were not given the opportunity to give their thoughts on the different options considered in the report.

Councillor Sarah Hayward, Leader of Camden Council, said: “It is unacceptable that HS2 Ltd has once again made a decision without consulting our residents whose lives will be so affected by this disruption.

“We were prepared to keep an open mind and had expected a much more thorough examination of all possible options to ensure Camden residents and businesses got the best possible outcome, with the least disruption. The paltry reduction in the height suggested by HS2 Ltd brings little relief from the impact of the original proposals. We are considering our options as we approach our appearance at Select Committee, but it is clear HS2 Ltd must do more work to identify ways they can further reduce the height and the impact on residents.”

In December HS2 Ltd committed to a study to examine the options to reduce the impact on residents of the proposed bridge by assessing how they could minimise the height increase of the Hampstead Road Bridge as set out in AP3. The AP3 proposal results in significant increases of up to 4.7m in the road level at either end of the bridge and utility diversions across the Ampthill estate. The plans released today show that the height could be reduced between 0.5 and 1m by using higher grade steel and making other design adjustments.

HS2 Ltd’s report lists, and briefly describes the eight options initially considered and describes the main benefits and disadvantages of the four options considered in more detail. The four considered in more detail were:

  • Option 1: Realignment of the Hampstead Road Bridge approximately 15m further away from Euston Station;
  • Option 5: bridge designs with edge supports above the deck such as arched structures, cables stayed bridges and half-though girder decks.
  • Option 7: Keeping the existing Hampstead Road Bridge above the Network Rail tracks and building an extension of it over the High Speed 2 tracks.
  • Option 8: Reducing the height of the existing proposals in Additional Provision 3 by between 0.5 and 1m. This is the proposal HS2 Ltd has decided to pursue.

More information

Read the Hampstead Road Bridge Study Report on the Gov.uk website.

Visit our HS2 pages.