More daft ideas.

Have you seen the latest proposal from the HS2 surveying team? I’ve posted previously about the new railway line crossing the Trent and Mersey Canal at two points above Fradley Junction. The map below shows the area…

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The canal goes under the A515 at Bromley Hayes, heading south-east towards Woodend Lane before turning left (north-east) to the top of the Fradley Locks just on the edge of the frame. The picturesque Woodend Lock is a few hundred yards up from the change of direction. Enlarge to get more detail.

Woodend Lock
The surveyed route for the HS2 takes a line almost northwest-southeast, crossing the canal just above Woodend Lock, and again around where Brokendown and Fradley Woods bracket the canal.
Now here’s where it gets silly. The surveyors didn’t plan for navigable headroom across the canal in the costings, and they’ve decided that elevating the line is not economic.
So instead they propose re-routing the canal to follow the north side of the railway from just below the A515 bridge, reconnecting to the original route just above Shadehouse Lock.

The truncated stubs of the canal could be developed as linear moorings. The cost of the new cut (including a new lock) would be absorbed in the engineering budget for this section.

The effect on the area would be devastating, especially during the construction process. The canal would need to be closed for a time.

And the architect of this mad scheme? A gentleman named Raif Pollo. Sounds a bit fishy to me….