New Gooseholme Bridge opens!
Cumbria County Council is pleased to announce that Gooseholme Bridge has officially opened.
During the official opening on Friday (14 October), there were 31 pupils from Stramongate School, including Brodie Lee, the first resident of Kendal to walk across the new bridge. After the bridge was damaged by Storm Desmond, Brodie Lee wrote to the county council, asking whether a new bridge could be built. Throughout the bridge building process, Brodie (and his parents) have been kept up to date with progress.
Following the bridge's opening, many people walked across it, including residents with their dogs, cyclists, adapted bikes from ‘Wheels for All’, and some parents with pushchairs.
The county council worked with contractor Story Contracting Ltd and in partnership with an extensive specialised project team, oversaw the installation of the 55-tonne structure in July, the bridge spans 42-metres across the river Kent.
The £2 million project to construct this replacement footbridge was delivered by Cumbria County Council with funding partners: the Environment Agency, South Lakeland District Council, and Sustrans.
The new Gooseholme bridge creates a fully accessible traffic-free link to Kendal town centre. It also repairs an important link for National Cycle Route 6 between Lancaster and Carlisle.
Cllr Keith Little, Cumbria County Council Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said:
“The bridge opening was a significant milestone in reconnecting the local community with parts of Kendal and the park.
“I want to thank everyone for attending the event on Friday, it was a fantastic turnout, with a great atmosphere - you could tell everyone was excited to open Gooseholme Bridge and had the opportunity to walk, pedal and ride across the bridge.
"Gooseholme Bridge will make a huge difference for its users, providing shared access for pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair users.
"I would like to thank the Kendal community for their patience and support for this project, funding partners: the Environment Agency, South Lakeland District Council, and Sustrans, as well as Story Contracting, Adey, and our county council project team.
“A special thanks goes to the Chairman of Cumbria County Council, Cllr Andy Connell, for attending, and officially opening the bridge, and thanks also go to all the pupils from Stramongate School, and their teacher Mr Hutchinson. The pupil’s enthusiasm was quite infectious, and helped everyone to have a really good time, despite the weather.”
