Landmark £5m bridge to cross valley between Oldham and Tameside approved

A new £5m bridge which would link Oldham and Tameside across the Medlock Valley has been given the green light.

The nearly 128 metre-long bridge in Park Bridge will stand higher than six double-decker buses and will run along the route of a historic brick railway viaduct. It is aimed at making the popular countryside spot, once the site of a large ironworks, easier to traverse for cyclists and walkers, and forms part of the regional Bee Network.

Oldham council, which submitted the planning application, stated that it would create a ‘new landmark’ in the area, celebrating its industrial heritage.

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Now the borough’s planning committee has unanimously granted approval to the plans. Committee chair Councillor Peter Dean, who moved that they grant permission to the project, said: “A bridge over the Medlock Valley, you could make a song out of that.”

Planning officer Graham Dickman told the meeting the valley currently is wooded with steep sides with crossings at the lower level.

“At the moment there is an element there where it crosses the valley where the cycle route in particular has to take an inconvenient diversion through the site,” he added. “This area where the old viaduct used to be is where the new bridge is going to go, so effectively it’s reinstating a feature that was there previously.

“The reasoning for this is to improve cycle and footpath networks across the borough – not necessarily intending that people come and visit the bridge itself from here, it’s that they will use it and it will improve facilities to get through the site.”

Currently walking and cycling routes between Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne on the national cycle