Castlefield Viaduct could become 1km-long 'garden bridge' linking Pomona to city centre

Manchester’s sky park could become a garden bridge connecting Pomona to the city centre, the National Trust has hinted.

Currently, the charity is consulting with residents who live within 5km of Castlefield Viaduct on how the space should be transformed in the future. The viaduct opened in July 2022 to visitors as a year-long pilot, but this was extended to autumn 2024 last summer.

As the extension was confirmed, the National Trust — which runs the free-entry site — confirmed it had employed landscape architects BDP to come up with plans on how it could look in the future. One option was to utilise the viaduct as a garden bridge, said BDP’s James Millington.

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“The aspiration is to make it a connector to Salford and Trafford, so [extend it] by another 850m,” he told the M.E.N. in July. “We want to make it more of a connector and there are more angles the viaduct can bring to Manchester, and the region.”

Doing so would mean expanding the 150-metre-long park another 850m, taking its total length to 1km. That would cost in the region of £20 million, the Trust said.

Now, the latest development in the project is the launch of a consultation on its future. While the National Trust has said it is not specifically seeking views on the possibility of a bridge, it has confirmed that option was one of the most common pieces of feedback mentioned by visitors.

“The viaduct has enormous potential to bring people and nature together and provide active travel links to other areas of the city,” said Duncan Laird, Head of Urban