http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Good news: SERIOUS infrastructure plan... en Tue, 19 May 2026 11:26:02 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-323074 Fri, 21 Feb 2020 18:21:53 +0000 CocoShepherd 323074@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I posted on the satisfactory bike maintenance thread about sending off a barrage of emails to local representatives about a new cycling/walking route. Does anyone have any experience of doing something similar and do you have any tips as to what to say etc?</p> <p>The responses to my emails are dribbling in. So far the one response I've had is that there is already very preliminary plan for one cycle route in my local area (someone has drawn up plans for what it could look like) and given that even that is proving nigh on impossible to see through to existence, I should concentrate my efforts on that. </p> <p>I didn't expect any other kind of response but its disheartening to hit such a brick wall so quickly. Any help or guidance on what else I can do would be much appreciated. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322651 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 17:23:48 +0000 chdot 322651@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>“</p> <p>There can’t be anyone in the country who seriously believes that a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland, across one of the deepest, busiest stretches of the Irish Sea that has been used as a dumping ground for millions of tonnes of explosives, will ever be built. And yet Boris Johnson managed to keep an entirely straight face as he announced his intention to proceed with feasibility studies for his imaginary bridge. </p> <p>“</p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/bridge-loving-boris-and-dom-troll-the-country-but-misjudge-the-saj" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/bridge-loving-boris-and-dom-troll-the-country-but-misjudge-the-saj</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322650 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 17:18:46 +0000 chdot 322650@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/bombs-dumped-in-irish-sea-make-bridge-plan-too-dangerous" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/bombs-dumped-in-irish-sea-make-bridge-plan-too-dangerous</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322644 Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:57:40 +0000 LaidBack 322644@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>From National</p> <p><strong>Letter to UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Matheson.</strong><br /> "Following discussions with Northern Ireland’s Minister for Infrastructure @NicholaMallon I have today written to the UKG expressing concern at their proposal to build a £20bn bridge between NI &amp; Scotland. The Scottish Government have not been consulted on this proposal." </p> <p>In his letter, Matheson said there have not been any discussions with the Scottish or Stormont administrations, despite transport being devolved.</p> <p>He wrote: "I strongly believe that if £20bn is available for investment in infrastructure in Scotland and Northern Ireland that rather than indulging the Prime Minister with this vanity project, such funding should be made available to our respective governments so it could be better spent on meeting the priorities of the people we represent.</p> <p>"I therefore request immediate discussions with your officials on releasing to us the £20bn of funding you have identified so it can be invested in the priorities of Northern Ireland and Scotland.<br /> "Given transport is devolved to both the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive, I look forward to hearing from you on the availability of the £20bn to us, and to assurances that in future any such proposals will be discussed with us first and will fully respect the devolved settlements and the role of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the The Scottish Government."</p> <p>Would BJ and co expect this? I'm not against the project as a concept but if the UK is going to place infrastructure between Scotland and N Ireland it would be sensible to communicate with politicians democratically elected to represent the people affected. Particularly as t he Tory party is a minority with no broad support here. Even the much maligned EU could not 'force' an infrastructure project on a member of that union. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322438 Tue, 11 Feb 2020 16:08:15 +0000 davecykl 322438@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>As a fan of fantastical infrastructure (I'm waiting, impatiently, for our space elevator), I'll happily join in the back of an envelope calculations…</p> <p>It looks as though the seabed becomes quite a lot shallower north of <a href="https://maps.nls.uk/view/101949494#zoom=5&amp;lat=1838&amp;lon=14018&amp;layers=BT">Beaufort's Dyke, which doesn't extend quite as far north as the outer end of the Loch Ryan shoreline</a> (caution: fairly large size map tile downloads).</p> <p>Ignoring cost and benefit (as you do, with fantastical infrastructure), are there reasons why a railway tunnel from the north end of Loch Ryan, skirting Beaufort's Dyke by a few kilometres, and making landfall near Larne, wouldn't be technically feasible? Both the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel">Channel Tunnel</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikan_Tunnel">Seikan Tunnel</a> (Japan) have similarly long and deep undersea crossings.</p> <p>You could then have a standard gauge rail link (with improved/realigned or reopened connections from Glasgow and Carlisle) to Belfast, with an intermodal (and, possibly gauge-changing) freight terminal near Belfast (or wherever deemed logistically convenient, possibly even extended to Dublin), and a vehicle shuttle service similar to the Channel Tunnel.</p> <p>With the way things are (possibly) going, you could have "sealed" freight trains from the continental EU coming from the Channel Tunnel, passing along a transit corridor through the Democratic Monarchy of Engerland (non-stop with no border checks necessary), and then, once having crossed the border at Gretna and having arrived in the "Celtic Union", continuing to Eurocentral or through the North Channel tunnel to Ireland. Intra-EU trade solved in one easy [sic] move, without the inconvenience and slowness of ferries or bwrecksiters…? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322399 Tue, 11 Feb 2020 11:05:21 +0000 neddie 322399@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>So this was the bad news he was trying to bury, by means of a "dead cat on the table":</p> <p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-plans-to-introduce-import-controls" rel="nofollow">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-plans-to-introduce-import-controls</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322396 Tue, 11 Feb 2020 10:54:52 +0000 AKen 322396@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Some estimates, based on not very much research at all.</p> <p>The North channel is 21km wide and has a maximum depth of approx. 300m.</p> <p>To bridge this, you might need something similar to that planned for the Bab-el-Mandeh strait, which also has a depth of about 300m. This would require pylons 700m high. With 300m below the water line, the towers would be 400m high - twice the height of the Queensferry Crossing and 50m taller than the current record holder, the Millau viaduct in France.</p> <p>The Bab-el-Mandeh bridge envisages using some mid-strait islands to shorten the length of very high bridge but there are no such islands in the North Channel. (This project is not likely to happen any time soon, not least because one end of the bridge starts in Yemen, currently in a state of war.)</p> <p>If it's a tunnel, the world's deepest undersea tunnel is currently being built in Norway under a similar depth of water, necessity a record depth of almost 400m.</p> <p>So - either we need the tallest bridge in the world or the (equal) deepest tunnel in the world. With BoJo in charge, what could go wrong? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322342 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 17:48:15 +0000 gembo 322342@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>That Beaufort Trench is also a worry </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322340 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:57:04 +0000 neddie 322340@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>OK, so what bad news is he trying to bury today? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322335 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:28:18 +0000 I were right about that saddle 322335@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@gembo</p> <p>Help is at hand. No way you're rolling your rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs like that boy though. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322334 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:28:02 +0000 crowriver 322334@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Utter drivel and complete fantasy. Some consultants will make a few million stringing out this idiotic idea for the next five years though. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322332 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:26:07 +0000 gembo 322332@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Work is underway was the bait in the Sun</p> <p>The Scotsman makes no such claim and goes with Talked about since 1869. Never going to happen until IWRATS eats his bike </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322330 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:19:17 +0000 chdot 322330@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Remind me how anyone makes you do anything...</p> <p>I know what you mean about the Sun, it had the best graphic. </p> <p><a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scotland-northern-ireland-bridge-boris-johnson-to-revive-20bn-plan-1-5088111/amp" rel="nofollow">https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scotland-northern-ireland-bridge-boris-johnson-to-revive-20bn-plan-1-5088111/amp</a> </p> <p><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-scotland-northern-ireland-bridge-brexit-a9327396.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-scotland-northern-ireland-bridge-brexit-a9327396.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/10/boris-johnson-northern-ireland-scotland-bridge-plan-being-actively-looked-into-no-10" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/10/boris-johnson-northern-ireland-scotland-bridge-plan-being-actively-looked-into-no-10</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322328 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:43:40 +0000 gembo 322328@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Underway? Please do not make me click on The Sun </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322327 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:27:44 +0000 chdot 322327@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Boris Island!</p> <p>“</p> <p>Part of it could be a tunnel too, as a way of dealing with the offshore dumpsite Beaufort's Dyke.</p> <p>“</p> <p><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10931578/boris-johnson-confirms-work-on-20bn-bridge-between-scotland-and-northern-ireland-is-underway/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10931578/boris-johnson-confirms-work-on-20bn-bridge-between-scotland-and-northern-ireland-is-underway/</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322326 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:14:40 +0000 gembo 322326@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@neddie that is a lot of nano seconds</p> <p>@IWRATS that will have to be gig two. I have learnt three of the 12 verses of Chanson Pour L’Auvergnat and the gig is 6 weeks away. I find the French a little tricky though Georges Brassens is the daddy </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322325 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:34:01 +0000 neddie 322325@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>That's mean, putting a headline up like that.</p> <p>Got my hopes up for about 17 nanoseconds. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322324 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:25:41 +0000 I were right about that saddle 322324@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ask your accordionist to let you try <em>Les savants, les poètes et les fous</em>? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322323 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:20:56 +0000 gembo 322323@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Elle est a toi, cetera chanson<br /> Toi L’Auvergnat qui sans facon</p> <p>For more? Argyle Bar 28/03/20 7.30pm </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322322 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:18:24 +0000 I were right about that saddle 322322@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I will grind the SUNLIT Uplander into dust and eat it in its entirety <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Lotito">à la façon de Monsieur Mangetout</a> if this bridge opens in my lifetime. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322320 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:10:49 +0000 steveo 322320@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>/facepalm </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20082#post-322319 Mon, 10 Feb 2020 13:58:35 +0000 chdot 322319@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>“</p> <p>Government officials working on plans for bridge linking Scotland to Northern Ireland, No 10 confirms </p> <p>“</p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/feb/10/brexit-labour-treasury-minister-dismisses-claims-that-setting-up-free-ports-could-facilitate-tax-avoidance-live-news?page=with:block-5e413c648f086a28115a8e89#block-5e413c648f086a28115a8e89" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/feb/10/brexit-labour-treasury-minister-dismisses-claims-that-setting-up-free-ports-could-facilitate-tax-avoidance-live-news?page=with:block-5e413c648f086a28115a8e89#block-5e413c648f086a28115a8e89</a> </p>