Thank you to the 70 or so residents who joined the meeting with Network Rail last night about St John's Footbridge. While there was obvious frustration - particularly of those that live nearby the bridge and the land slippage - I hope that for the most part, people were pleased with the meeting and its explanations of the current situation.
Fabrication and construction of the earthworks and bridge isn't something that can be done instantly but I'm still focused on a 2024 delivery and will continue to hold feet to the fire over this. We've also managed to get a bigger and wider bridge for the crossing and something that allows views of the trains passing as well, which is great news. I agree with those who weren't completely convinced though that the perforated design achieves everything in this regard and I am doing further work on this.
The meeting was recorded - anyone who would like to see it can contact Network Rail on 03457 11 41 41 Quoting Wessex/Woking/St John's Footbridge or on [email protected] quoting the same.
I have to say that I have been impressed by the community relations efforts from NR compared to many that I see from private and regulated industry - the commitment to explore a local roadshow here in St John's and Hook Heath further down the line is very welcome indeed.
[photos below edited to protect identities for GDPR purposes, those visible are Network Rail employees]
