Firstly the underpass itself had to be replaced with a much wider, taller tunnel by construction engineers Jane Wernick Associates. The challenge for them was working under a live railway line. Installation needed to cause minimum disruption to the trains. As a result, the line was closed for just two days – Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2005 – the track taken away and a giant pre-fabricated concrete tunnel shunted and slipped smartly into position.
‘Sad as I am, I came down on Christmas Day for a hour with a bottle of red wine and stood with the locals watching the casing going in,’ says Angie. ‘There was a lot of interest from the residents, they’ve definitely benefited from it.’
As well as being 2ft taller, double the width and much better lit than the old underpass, further improvements were also planned for the public space around the entrance. Working to a budget of £100,000, the designers DSDHA created an angular seating shelter, along with an open area and green a space which replaces overgrown wasteland and tumbledown walls.
‘The brief was just that there was this awful underpass and that they were looking for ideas to improve it. Eleven out of the 12 architects said no. We were the only ones who thought we could do anything with it,’ says architect Deborah Saunt.
Although the scheme didn’t have the benefit of a community champion, the designers did hold public consultations and enlisted the help of local historian Brian Lewis to research the history of the underpass.
What's been happening in Castleford? Follow its regeneration in Kevin McCloud And The Big Town Plan
Essential reading about the multiple organisations that contributed to Castleford's regeneration
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