Two Tunnels Shared Path

A new shared path for Bath and North East Somerset

Ifs & Buts

This page answers some of the questions we've been getting ...

Tunnel concerns

I'd heard that the air in the tunnels is bad

We think that this reputation comes from railway days - and with steam locos no longer using the route, the problem's vanished. We'd like to conserve their memory, not their exhaust. Even with no airshafts, both tunnels will self-ventilate from either end - but some science will be done to formally assess the ventilation, and for the prescence of suspects like CO2 (there is none), methane (ditto) and Radon (believed not to be a problem)

If you dig out the tunnels will this affect the foundations of my house?

Neither tunnel is infilled at all, both merely sealed. They're both regularly inspected and under a care and maintenance regime by their owners - both are stable and 'Low maintenance'. The path will invoke more regular monitoring of the tunnels, further reducing what is a near-zero risk.

People hate road underpasses as it is, are they going to want to walk through a rail tunnel?

Once formal use is established, people regard paths through rail tunnels in a different way. Rail tunnels on other shared use paths see frequent use, and are regarded in a different light to pedestrian underpasses on roads. For some they are a highlight of a journey along the path. The presence of this path can be expected to be a visitor attraction for Bath.

Isn't it expensive to light the tunnels?

As a society we tend to underestimate energy costs, but it's on a par with lighting a road at night - and street lighting tends to be on from dusk till dawn. Provision of lighting for the tunnel can be undertaken with more efficiency and less spillage than for streets as the tunnel is a confined space.

How about personal security?

For anyone planning mischief, tunnels limit escape routes, making security more a perceived problem than a real one. Tunnel entrances lend themselves to discreet surveillance from CCTV where necessary. Examples in use in mainland Europe include the Milseburg Tunnel - 1.2 kilometres in length - successfully in use with bat-friendly lighting and cctv. The other factor is to ensure that path users feel secure - high useage levels help here, and the Two Tunnels shared path has qualities that will make it popular and well frequented.

Here's a most informative link to shared path tunnels in Germany from Dr. Achim Bartoschek, including a photo of the Milseburg tunnel. Here's a link to a page with several photos of the interior of the Milseburg tunnel, which is one of very many tunnels in use as shared paths worldwide.

Neighbour concerns

Will the path be noisy?

Experience elsewhere shows that neighbours to the path are unlikely to notice the passing of the vast majority of path users, and that viewing the path can be a pleasure as from time to time you'll see and meet people you know. This is an edge-of-city path, and we'd encourage a network of path rangers to care for it and mediate in any concerns

Surely this path will reduce the value of my house?

Experience elsewhere indicates no effect on property prices, or even a small benefit - the condition of the land adjacent to your property and the quality of its neighbourhood is improved by the path and its users. In certain locations, the geometry of things implies that path users and residents may need to be shielded from each other by screening - and occupants of houses close to the path will have it available for them to use. The scattering of residents of Lyncombe Vale in particular will have a new and largely traffic-free access to Oldfield Park's thriving shopping area at a distance of just over a mile.

These paths are trouble, there's always people mucking about over there, we have problems with motorbikes using the old railway, and look what vandals have done.

There's a perception that shared use paths threaten the security of properties, as the subcultural atmosphere that surrounds derelict land and old railways encourages vandalism. Obliterating a line's remains is one option here, but creating a well used shared use path is another - and when this is done, the security problems reduce very substantially. This part of the S&D, of all lines, has the ability to return to being a valued and well used part of the local environment.

There'll be raves/hangers about in the tunnel

See above

Devonshire tunnel: won't it be too expensive to remove the spoil from the cutting?

The plan is not to clear the cutting of spoil, rather, a ramp (at 1/20) will be excavated down to the tunnel portal, which will be exposed and restored using a grant already secured from a rail heritage source. It's recognised that it is important to return the excavation and tunnel portal to a tidy and pleasant appearance as this will improve the quality of the entire path and encourage better use of it.

• When excavating in this fashion, account needs to be taken of soil mechanics, which is a well established science. Good engineering practice will be followed.
• Disposal costs and landfill tax would be a major expense, but the cutting filling can be reused elsewhere on the project.
• Beneath the spoil is a substantial strengthened concrete block wall and this will need to be broken up and disposed of. Removing it will reveal the portal of the tunnel, which survives intact. The tunnel portal will need cosmetic work to return it to good appearance - removing any adhering mortar from the wall. The original cutting sides will need maintaining with a cover of grass to ensure their stability as should be done for the national rail network.

Environmental Concerns

This will impact on the nature reserve at Tucking Mill

There's an outstanding pocket of wild grassland at Tucking Mill which may justify barriers (which need not be fences) and user education (which need not involve electric fences). Also, the railway land alongside the path can be managed to encourage this form of habitat to spread by selective removal of trees and undergrowth to reestablish the original grassed embankments and cuttings.

All that tarmac is hideous and makes these paths look like roads

The planning permission requires a 'Visually softer' surface. We'd expect Linear Park to receive special consideration as it runs within the city and will have many users - it's also wide and gives many opportunities to provide space for people while maintaining very similar appearance to todays path. There's extensive experience of what works in terms of shared use path surfaces, and black tarmac is only one of several options. In many places the path's original ballast trackbed is already available to be the substrate for whatever surface is chosen.

Bats, Combe Down and Devonshire Tunnels

Research has established that bats make little use of either tunnel. The area is fortunate to have a substantial population that includes species that are nationally rare, owing to the favourable habitat and availability of roosting and hibernation sites. We hope and expect the path to provide more bat habitat than it does in its present state - for some reason they find it impossible to access the sealed ends of the tunnels!

The bat population may currently be more fluid owing to the scale of the works to infill the Combe Down stone mines. In any case, it's fully expected that the tunnels should host bat populations. Path works will open up a second access point for bats adjacent to Horscombe Vale and Tucking Mill, within the Cotswold AONB, and providing sustenance for bats as both host healthy insect populations.

Lighting for the path will be needed in the tunnels, but the design of this can meet the needs of bats to remain undisturbed. This is done elsewhere by installing low energy downlighters in the tunnel walls - adequately lighting the path for users - while the crown of the tunnel remains in darkness. After which purpose built bat roosts are built into the crown of the tunnel to provide complete seclusion from light.

Away from the tunnels, the path's immediate environment can also be managed to encourage insects - and it is observed that bats, which have poor sight but which travel some distance to feeding grounds, value clear geographical markers such that the path would provide.

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