A63 / Castle Street Improvements

Castle Street, 1998

Introduction

Improvement proposals for the A63/Castle Street made by the Department of Transport in 1992 meant that the slicing of the city in two by this road would have been perpetuated. The following report, prepared by Michael J Hubbard and Pablo L González, proposing a tunnel under the river Hull to carry heavy through-traffic of the E20, was presented to the DoT with the support of Hull Civic Society. Their own scheme was eventually shelved, as it was thought by the parties involved that it was better to do nothing rather than to implement a flawed scheme which would have been detrimental for the future development of the city. The tunnel scheme was considered to be too expensive; therefore it was put on hold.

Eleven years have gone since then, the traffic in this arterial road has become much heavier, splitting the riverside area from the rest of the city. Meanwhile, Hull is bidding to become one of the top 10 cities in the country. I feel that it is time to resurrect this scheme.

Pablo Luis González: Hull, 4 August 2003

A63 / Castle Street Improvements - Kingston upon Hull

Aims

The aims of any improvement scheme affecting the main entrance to the city should take into account the particular qualities of Kingston-upon-Hull and its location as the gateway to Europe.

There are two aspects which should be considered:

• Traffic
• The city

Traffic

Solve existing congestion and delays.

Analysis:

1. Delays caused by the interruption of the traffic flow due to the opening of Myton Bridge to river traffic. Critical. If this major issue is not solved, there is little point in spending any money in road widening and improvement schemes if the main cause of the delays and congestion is to remain. A road is as fast as its slowest part is.
2. No differentiation between through and local traffic. Important, as management of through and local traffic leads to the interruption of the flow of the former. It suggests a scheme with no interruption of through traffic, an efficient management of local traffic and of the exchange between through and local traffic.
3. Increase in traffic due to the regeneration of the dockland area, the expansion of the port, normal traffic increase and the increase resulting from the integration of the A 63 road with the European Route E 20. Road capacity could be increased by a better management, ie, uninterrupted flow of traffic. This third aspect is subservient to points 1. and 2.

The City

The A63 – Castle Street is the main road entrance to Hull, gateway to Europe. The main junctions between the A63 and the city centre, Commercial Road and Lowgate exchanges, should be designed in a manner that both acknowledge and celebrate this quality.

The area located between Castle Street, River Hull and the Humber is due for redevelopment once and when the fruit market has moved. Commercial, leisure and residential uses are expected. Any proposal should unlock this development potential in an environmentally enhancing manner. This area should be a continuation of the city centre. Hence the need of vehicular and pedestrian links between the area and the city centre inscribed within the fabric of the city.

Any prospect for redevelopment of this area is also inextricably linked with the actual and the perceived potential quality of life achievable in the area. This quality of life is in turn linked to the environmental quality which can be accomplished by a sensitive and well designed development.

Princes Dock Side and Humber Dock Street from Queen Victoria Square to the Pier alongside the former docks should be stressed as the main pedestrian access and leisure walkway to this area. Lowgate/Market Place/Queen Street should remain as the main vehicular access.

Department of Transport Proposals

The Department of Transport proposals do not meet any of the main criteria outlined above. They do not and will not solve traffic congestion and delays as they do not address the interruption of traffic flow produced by the design of Myton Bridge, nor do they address any environmental issue at all.

Therefore it is our conclusion that these proposals are fundamentally flawed and, as they do not solve any of the fundamental problems affecting the traffic flow and the environmental qualities of the city, extremely wasteful of resources.

Furthermore, they will lock any potential development of the pier area as they interrupt urban continuity, sever the access between the city centre and the riverside, and affect detrimentally the potential of quality of life by creating a hostile environment as a by-product.

These proposals have been undemocratically elaborated as a result of a token consultation process with the council, local groups and businesses. They are been forced on Hull by the Department of Transport with little regard to the needs, the nature of the problems and the environment of Hull.

It is our conclusion that no works should proceed at all if they will irremediably lock and affect the potential for an environmentally enhancing development of the area which, as it forms part of the historical core of the city, is a Conservation Area. These proposed works are not tackling the main cause of the delays and congestion of the traffic, ie, the interruption of a constant flow produced by Myton Bridge.

Proposals

Any proposal addressing traffic issues must also address issues relating to the city of Hull as a whole.

Therefore, any proposal should unlock the potential for development of the former fruit market and adjacent areas for commercial, leisure, especially water related leisure, and residential uses. It is imperative therefore that this area should be continuous, and be easily accessible from and to the city centre.

This excludes the six lane proposal of the D.O.T. It also excludes any proposal having a major road at surface level as it would split the city in two, severing the pier area from the city centre and, therefore, limiting severely its prospects for redevelopment. Such proposals would adversely affect the perceived and the actual achievable quality of life of the area by affecting negatively its environmental quality, therefore contributing detrimentally to any possible redevelopment.

An improvement proposal must tackle the problems associated with the reduction of the speed and traffic flow of the A63, which are the following:

• The interruption of traffic flow caused by the opening of Myton Bridge to river traffic.
• The series of traffic lights located alongside Castle Street and Clive Sullivan to manage the exchange between through and local traffic.
• Inefficiently designed and managed exchanges between through and local traffic.

There are two possible solutions:

1. A tunnel running from Clive Sullivan Way under the River Hull to surface on Garrison Road to take all through traffic, leaving Castle Street to handle only local and low speed traffic. Entrance and exit tunnels to connect with local traffic at Lowgate and Commercial Road exchanges. These lanes should merge slowly with the main traffic in the tunnel over a rather long distance. A two lanes boulevard built over the tunnel with wider pavements on both sides, with sleeping policemen, tree lined, with kiosks, street furniture and markings of the former city walls. Princes dock Street to be given pedestrian priority. Lowgate to be given vehicular priority. This option releases land at surface level for redevelopment and enjoyment for the general public.
2. An elevated carriageway along the middle of Castle Street. The first two floors under the carriageway to be used as shops, kiosks, office and residential use. The technology to acoustically isolate the carriageway from the accommodation beneath is already available. The existing Myton Bridge is to be replaced by a fixed bridge, the carriage way to be at a higher level to allow for uninterrupted river traffic. This scheme would result in two narrow streets instead of only one along Castle Street, which would take local traffic. This solution would permit the design of a bridge over the exchange at Commercial Road in such a manner that it would be acting as a symbolic gateway to the city of Hull.

Method

• Proposals to be subjected to a consultation process which we propose to call Hull Action, involving a wide range of the population and organisations. This process would take the form of an informative and consultative leaflet distribution, a working model located in a place accessible to the general public, a design day around the model, meetings, visits to schools, organisations, etc.
• Proposals to be elaborated, accommodating and taking on board suggestions and input resulting from the consultation process, apart from considerations resulting from technical and financial assessment of the project.
• Technical and financial viability to be assessed. Cost/benefit analysis. It would be necessary to engage external professional consultants at this stage in order to carry out this assessment. Proposals to be reviewed in conjunction and within a general road/rail/river passenger and freight transport policy.
• Funding options and proposals to be reviewed and assessed. As the A63 is part of the E20 European Route passing through Britain to Ireland there is, therefore, the possibility to raise funding from the EEC, especially after Jacques Delors’ efforts to raise funds in order to level the poorer EEC nations, such as Ireland, with the more developed nations.

Hull, 12 June 1992
(Grammatically revised 14 November 2003)

Michael J Hubbard
Pablo L González

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