Guildford residents have had to put up with a lot of disruption lately, with more still to come. The good news is that it is largely worth it, not least of all for members of wildlife that are now able to make it across the A3 without putting their lives in danger in the process.
It has happened as part of a wider scheme in which improvements to Junction 10 of the M25 are taking place, with £2.7 million being spent on the country’s first ever ‘green bridge’. It opened to the public on the 22nd of May, supporting lowland heathland habitats at the same time. The bridge is considered to be a ‘real turning point’ for wildlife in the area.
What Has Happened
Head along towards Ockham and you can see a bridge that gives over the A3, just before the A-road meets Junction 10 of the M25. The bridge that you see there is effectively split into two, with one side being open to cyclists, equestrians and pedestrians, whilst the other is aimed at all forms of wildlife thanks to the presence of a heathland habitat there. It means that the various creatures that live in that part of the area can cross over between Ockham and Wisley Commons safely, which is the first time that that has happened since the A3 originally opened back in 1979. It is also the first that such a thing has opened in the United Kingdom.
The Cockrow Bridge is, according to National Highways, the United Kingdom’s first in the sense that it has been specifically designed in order to support one of the rarest habitat types in the country: lowland heathland habitats. Lowland heathland habitats have been declining at an alarming rate in recent years, with the hope of Surrey Wildlife Trust being that this will represent a ‘significant step forward’ when it comes to the idea that development and wildlife are able to exist alongside one another. The organisation has been championing the bridge from the outside, so there is a real sense of accomplishment now that it has opened.
A Project to Be Proud Of
There will always be those who like to refer to the likes of saving wildlife as ‘woke’, even though they don’t really know what the word means, other than being a catchall for anything that right-wing people don’t like. Thankfully, the more sensible voices won out, with the Senior Project Manager for National Highways, Jonathan Wade, acknowledging that it only became apparent that they could do something that hasn’t been done before. He said,
Partway through the design, we recognised that with the heathland on both sides, we had the opportunity to create the UK’s first heathland green bridge and that’s an opportunity which we took.
There have been numerous bridges built at the Wisley Interchange in recent years, but the heathland one is unique. Having gone through years of road closures and construction, the plan to offer additional routes for drivers is now all but complete. Whilst said drivers will certainly appreciate the easing of congestion provided by as many as eight new bridges, it is the amphibians and reptiles that will most be able to make use of the crossover to the other side of the heathland. The Cockrow Bridge is six kilometres long but, more importantly, it also offers an example of how infrastructure can be carried out in the future.