The Fens riverscape is dramatically changing with the latest addition of the new Reach Lode Bridge which has just been installed.
The bridge is part of a new walking and cycling network from sustainable transport charity Sustrans who are working with the National Trust to create the Lodes Way – a 14.5 km virtually traffic free greenway.
This scheme is one of many new routes being created across the UK by Sustrans to connect communities and make walking and cycling the easy, practical and more sustainable choice for local travel.
Countryside access is restricted in this part of Cambridgeshire by the Lodes, which link the villages with the River Cam.
This new walking and cycling route will make these journeys easier and shorter as well as more memorable, sustainable and helping to create better links with Wicken Fen and the villages of Burwell, Reach and Lode.
It will also form part of the National Cycle Network, between Cambridge and Wicken Fen, on the route between Cambridge and Ely.
Designed to blend into the surrounding landscape, the bridge has gently sloping ramps providing easy access for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
It is not yet open and is waiting for the completion of the linking paths.
The bridge together with a new walking and cycle path across Burwell Fen will be officially opened on Sunday 12 September.
It will also bridge the gap in Route 11 of the National Cycle Network, between Waterbeach and Wicken Fen, allowing faster access between Cambridge and Ely.
Designed to blend into the surrounding landscape, the bridge has gently sloping ramps providing easy access for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
The bridge together with a new walking and cycle path across Burwell Fen will be officially opened on Sunday 12 September.
Nigel Brigham, Sustrans Regional Director said,
“It’s great to see this simple, elegant and practical bridge become a reality so that the communities can start to really use these walking and cycling routes for local journeys”.
This scheme will provide vital links to connect places and people and will give communities more choice about how they travel around this area and how they can do it more sustainably.
Watching the lifting operation with residents of local communities, Chris Soans, Wicken Fen Property Manager said:
“Construction of the bridge has created a great deal of interest in the local communities. The bridge represents a significant step in the development of the Lodes Way”.
For the first time walkers and cyclists will be able to take a cross country route between Wicken Fen and Bottisham and explore new areas of our magnificent countryside.
The anticipated cost of this scheme is in excess of £2.0million, and is being financed with a combination of grants including £600,000 coming from Sustrans using part of a £50m Big Lottery Fund award won in 2007 to create nearly 80 new walking and cycling routes across the UK.
Other funding comes from the Department for Communities and Local Government via its Housing Growth Fund.
It is anticipated that the entire Lodes Way will be completed by 2013.