Peaks Parkway
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The Peaks Parkway located in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire was conceived in the 1970's when the former Grimsby to Louth railway line fell into disuse.
The railway line had latterly been used to transport grain from Louth to the Breweries in Grimsby.
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[edit] Background
When British Rail could no longer justify the maintenance of the route, Grimsby Borough Council agreed to research the route as a major traffic artery into and through the town centre. Engineering Consultants were appointed and quickly confirmed the route would have strategic significance for the town and provide a link from the south to the A180 which was being constructed to the north of the urban area. Unusually the route would not require the demolition of any property. This plan was well received by the Councillors who had previously approved a traffic plan for the area which proposed the construction of a ring road and a road running alongside the route of the former railway into the town centre. The route alongside the railway would have required the demolition of 480 properties but was justified on the benefits that the scheme would bring to the residents of the town as a whole through improved communication links. The Councillors were keen to support a road which could be built entirely within former railway land along the majority of its route and not require the demolition of any property.
A group of railway enthusiasts had obtained an option from British Rail to reactivate the line as a private public railway between Grimsby and Louth. This option was granted prior to the publication of the road proposals. However, the railway supporters faced an impossible task in raising sufficient funds to replace the many tonnes of ballast that had been sold off by British Rail upon the closure of the line as a working entity and eventually conceded that their plan would not materialise.
[edit] Formation of Humberside County Council
Upon the formation of Humberside County Council in 1974, the former County Borough pressed the County to include the scheme for the construction of a road along the former railway line in the Capital Roads Programme. The County Council acceded to the request and together with a new road linking Baxtergate, near the Riverhead, to Hainton Square, was incorporated in the programme.
Under the leadership of John Board, Director of Development at Grimsby Borough Council, proposals for rejuvenating the Riverhead Shopping Centre in Grimsby Town Centre were created which included covering of the existing 1960's style open air shopping mall and an extension over the surrounding car parks. The team included officers of the Council; Keith Archer, Chief Planning Officer, Terry Thurogood, Senior Planning Officer, Allan Thompson, Chief Engineer, Graham Stafford, Chief Architect and Johnathan Sworn, Hammerson UK Ltd., their Architects, Building Design Partnership and representatives from Donaldson's the managing agents of the Centre.
In 1992, the Royal Town Planning Institute awarded the redesigned and renamed, Freshney Place Shopping Centre a Commendation Award.
[edit] The Bargate Scheme
Baxtergate, was a two lane road which was located between the Riverhead Centre and the surrounding car parks and was left over after the ambitious plans for a Town Centre bypass were scuppered by a Public Inquiry into a scheme which required the widening of Bargate near to the junction with Dudley Street, Grosvenor Street and Cartergate. Originally, Baxtergate was planned to flow in a single direction around the back of the shopping centre where there would be bus tops to allow passengers to alight directly from the buses into the shopping centre. On the demise of the bypass scheme following a Public Inquiry, Baxtergate was retained as a one-way street in the opposite direction to that planned and four pedestrian underpasses were hurriedly constructed to allow pedestrians to cross from the surface car parks to the shopping centre without having to cross traffic and bus stops which were constructed on the car park side of the road.
The subways were a constant problem for the Council, being prone to flooding and being the location of some physical attacks on unwary shoppers and bus passengers.
[edit] Baxtergate
The development team proposed the realignment of Baxtergate to a position alongside the bank of the River Freshney and Hammersons were encouraged to extend the shopping centre to the new alignment of the road, building two multi-storey car parks, one at each end of the development, to replace the surface level parking. The deal that was eventually approved by the Council, provided for the Multi-storey Car Parks to be handed over to the Council for operation on completion so that the public car parking provision in the town centre could be co-ordinated. Subsequently, at the time the payment for the area of the surface was due, Hammersons negotiated the retention of the cars parking under their control.
Humberside County Council, as Highway Authority, were persuaded that the relocation of Baxtergate was essential to the development of the Town Centre and as they would derive benefit from the sale of the land on which Baxtergate was located, they agreed in principal to the scheme. Principal Humberside County Council Technical Services Department officers involved at the time were; Dave Rennie, Roger Williams, and Bob Keld.
[edit] Phases of construction
Crucial to the scheme to enlarge the shopping centre was the linking of the realignment of Baxtergate to the railway route. Baxtergate realignment and its extension across the Riverhead to Victoria Street became Phase 1. The construction of a new route from the Baxtergate / Victoria Street junction under the railway from Grimsby to Cleethorpes to Hainton Square became Phase 2 and the railway route from the Victoria Street junction to a new roundabout north of New Waltham became Phase 3.
[edit] Phase 1
Humberside County Council, in close liaison with the Borough Council, constructed the new road to allow the expansion of the shopping centre and in honour of a highly regarded former town Clerk of the County Borough of Grimsby, named the road Frederick Ward Way. Part of the scheme saw the creation of a riverside walkway adjacent to the River Freshney. A new footbridge erected by the Borough Council linked the Town Centre to the newly created National Fishing Heritage Centre.
[edit] Phase 2
The East Marsh Street link provided a direct link to Hainton Square and the Freeman Street shopping area and routed traffic away from the circuitous existing rout which used Pasture Street, Robinson Street East and East Marsh Street. This scheme required the construction of a subway beneath a live railway line in very poor ground and was completed just prior to the demise of Humberside County Council.
[edit] Phase 3
The major part of the Peaks Parkway was the construction of the road along the former railway line and this was undertaken by the new North East Lincolnshire Council which was an amalgamation of the former Grimsby and Cleethorpes District Councils. Fortunately the same officers that worked on the scheme prior to disbanding the County Council, were available to implement the scheme which was completed in October 1998
