The Ryde Transport Interchange Project is back on the Isle of Wight council’s (IWC) Forward Plan, meaning a decision on moving forward with the scheme is due to be made by IWC at some point in the next three months.
As well as the former tram pier being restored for pedestrians and cyclists, the gateway area will see a total reconfiguration, including refurbished public toilets and “greatly enhanced” facilities including widened footways, new crossings and cycle routes.
A £10 million grant from the Government to carry out the works will be propped up with around £30 million coming from local transport partners.
Delay in consultation
At the end of September last year, the Isle of Wight council had announced that a comprehensive consultation and detailed plans would be “published in the coming weeks”.
Eight months later and News OnTheWight understands that the consultation really is planned to be coming our way in the next few weeks. We’ve asked IWC what caused the delay and will update once we hear back.
Tight timescales
Paperwork for the item reads:
This paper concerns the Ryde Transport Interchange Project which is being funded by the Department for Transport as a part of the Transforming Cities Fund in partnership with Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire County Council.
The £10million grant for the Island will fund reinstatement of the tramway pier, refurbishment of the station/bus interchange and improved approaches with local transport partners providing a further c.£30million of complimentary contributions.
The project is based on the Ryde Interchange scheme previously approved following consultation in 2008.
The project is subject to tight timescales due to DfT and partner funding constraints and requires key decisions to be made prior to the next Cabinet meeting following the outcomes of an engagement and consultation process.
Cabinet are asked to approve the scheme’s implementation and authorise the Director of Neighbourhoods to make delegated decisions informed by the findings of the consultation and engagement process to enable the finalisation of the detailed design and to place orders for works and services to enable delivery by the funder’s deadline of March 2023.
