Last updated 11:19, Friday, 12 September 2008

There is a story, sworn by its teller to be true, of an American woman who visited Carlisle in the 1980s. “Nice place,” she said. “But what a dumb thing to do – building a castle so close to a road.”

Castle Way, with the castle at top right

For 35 years visitors and locals have shared this lady’s concern, if not her grasp of history. Nice place, Carlisle Castle. But contemplation of its ancient ruddy sandstone is disturbed somewhat by the constant thunder of traffic on the dual carriageway alongside.

Castle Way was planned in the 1960s, built in the 1970s, and panned ever since by most who have expressed an opinion.

Letters still flood in to The Cumberland News. How could they cut off our castle from the city centre? What were they thinking? And can anything be done to repair the damage?

Carlisle’s Renaissance project leans heavily on the city’s ‘historic quarter’. Tullie House; West Walls; the cathedral; the castle. And a great big dual carriageway.

Hugh Little OBE was born and bred in Carlisle. A former leader of both the city and county councils, he was given the freedom of Carlisle for services to local government. “I love the castle,” declares the 83-year-old. “Its stature and its history; it represents the people of Carlisle.”

Such a eulogy may sound strange from someone who was instrumental in the creation of Castle Way; he was a prominent Labour councillor throughout its planning and city mayor when it opened. But Hugh Little asks Castle Way’s 21st-century critics to step back more than 40 years.

In the 1960s Carlisle was one of Britain’s worst bottlenecks. Until the M6 bypassed the city in 1970, its narrow streets were clogged day and night by vehicles travelling to and from Scotland: along the A6 up London Road and Botchergate, through the city centre and over Eden Bridge.

“Before the M6 the traffic was horrendous,” recalls Little. “Traffic management has always been a serious problem in Carlisle. It was complicated by having three rivers and seven rail lines to contend with.”

The city council’s solution was two-fold: build an outer ring road and an inner ring road. The outer road would have connected Warwick Road, London Road and Wigton Road through Carlisle’s southern suburbs, taking vehicles out of the city centre. Only the Warwick Road to London Road section – Eastern Way – was ever built.

The inner ring road would have ploughed dual carriageway through much of Carlisle’s heart. It was scrapped in the mid-1970s but not before two stages were constructed. The first saw Georgian Way built between Hardwicke Circus and Victoria Place.

This opened in December 1970, just three days after Carlisle was bypassed by the M6. Thousands of vehicles had vanished from the city’s streets overnight without any local intervention. But the council pressed on with the inner ring road’s second stage: Castle Way. Past and present were on a collision course. Traffic congestion versus nine centuries of history.

Today’s consensus is that people strolling along Castle Street used to enjoy glorious views of the castle. Not so, insists Hugh Little. Much of the view was blocked by a ramshackle row of buildings in severe disrepair.

“People were pleased when Castle Way was built because all those shabby buildings were pulled down,” he recalls. “I don’t think anybody should come now with a romanticised approach about thousands of people visiting the castle. They didn’t. We didn’t think about tourism because Carlisle didn’t really have tourists then.”

There was opposition within and outside the council but not to the extent that might be expected today. Castle Way was built over part of Corporation Road and what had been Solway Street, Solway Terrace and Dacre Street. It opened for business on Sunday, November 25, 1973.

Traffic had passed in front of the castle for years, along Finkle Street and Annetwell Street, but this was a narrow strip on the city centre side. Four lanes of traffic with a central reservation created a major barrier which Castle Way’s gloomy pedestrian underpass struggled to bridge.

Today’s most popular option – putting the road underground – was never seriously considered, says Little. “It was maybe not impossible, but certainly impractical in financial terms. There was talk of going behind the castle. But that side is one of the nicest leisure areas in the city.”

Were concerns expressed about cutting off the castle from the city centre? “I can’t recall that. The prominent thought was traffic management. The criticism doesn’t concern me that much. Would people visit the castle more if Castle Way wasn’t there? And where would the traffic go? What would you do?”

Well, what would you do? Carlisle MP Eric Martlew says: “Ideally it would go underground but I don’t think the money will ever be available. We have to look at other ways.”

Martlew favours lowering Castle Way opposite the castle and creating a walkway at the road’s current level, between Castle Street and the castle entrance.

Mike Mitchelson, leader of Carlisle City Council, regards Castle Way as “a great shame”. “It needs addressing. We have a rich heritage which we want to capitalise on.”

As chair of the board of Carlisle Renaissance, Bryan Gray is tasked with doing just that. Gray’s reaction when he first saw Castle Way was dismay at “another awful inner ring road”, typical of many which were thrown up in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Castle Way isn’t acceptable as it is. The problem is, how do we bring together the castle and the city centre? There are examples in this country and abroad of similar road schemes that have been changed. I’ve seen examples in London and Birmingham.

“You can’t clear traffic but you can slow it down significantly. You can make it all flat by removing pedestrian barriers and kerbs. But you can forget about putting it underground. There’s no way you can ever justify spending that kind of money. It’s pie in the sky. It could cost tens of millions of pounds. Maybe hundreds of millions.”

Make that a billion. Richard Hayward, Cumbria County Council’s Carlisle area engineer, insists: “Castle Way cannot go underground within the realms of reasonable expenditure. Costs would be colossal. The mind boggles.”

How much? “I suspect you’d be into the realms of a billion pounds or more. These sort of projects only take place in places like London. It would be civil engineering work of international significance.”

If you try to put Castle Way underground you have two options: start somewhere near McVities factory and tunnel east, deep enough to go far under the River Caldew and the west coast main line, coming back up in time for Hardwicke Circus.

Hugely expensive and time-consuming, with numerous physical and legal obstacles, complicated by the Caldew’s status as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Then there’s the city council’s Millennium Gallery, cursing stone and all.

The other underground option avoids going beneath the Caldew and rail line but still involves significant cost and difficulty.

Keep the road over the river and railway, then sink it before it reaches the castle, less than 100 yards further on. This would involve a steep drop with a gradient of about one in 10. Not practical for drivers and not permissible under current road-building rules.

Other popular solutions also seem unlikely to materialise. English Heritage, which manages the castle, has rejected calls for a walkway over Castle Way from Castle Street. The county council, which is in charge of Cumbria’s roads, has ruled out diverting Castle Way behind the castle.

Last year consultants Capita Symonds proposed an £8.4m scheme to “soften” Castle Way, replacing its roadside barriers with trees and its central reservation with lighting columns. Pelican crossings would allow pedestrians to cross at the end of Castle Street. The county council has rejected the idea of a crossing at street level.

The quest to improve Castle Way goes on but it can only be an exercise in damage limitation. A subway here, a Millennium Bridge there. The long-awaited Carlisle Northern Development Route, linking the A595 in the west with junction 44 of the M6 in the north, will reduce traffic significantly. But the rumble will never stop.

“If you were looking now, Castle Way would never be built,” says Richard Hayward. “You just wouldn’t get the necessary approvals.”

Hugh Little is not about to apologise to anyone. “I acknowledge that we have got the imposition of traffic there,” he says. “But I think Castle Way has been an asset for transport in Carlisle. One thing you learn about traffic management is, there are so many opinions. You never do it right.

“I have no regrets whatsoever. You had to have a through road. You can bring all the pundits you like but they didn’t have the responsibility of provision. It’s something that had to be done at the time.”