The combination of existing buildings, traffic flows and the phasing requirements was very complex and challenging. It was difficult to meet the requirement of all the relevant stakeholders. In addition, the available artist impressions of the preliminary design were not good enough to provide insight of the impact of the proposed solutions. ProRail assigned Mott MacDonald to conduct a second opinion of the preliminary design and provide visualisations of the different solutions with a fresh approach.
We developed alternative solutions and made a comparison with the existing preferred option. High resolution visualisations have been made of the best alternative and the preferred option developed by the client, which have helped to understand the impact of the different alternatives.
We proposed an alternative solution in which the construction height is reduced by choosing a different type of rail construction and the rail alignment is slightly adjusted. The ballasted track is replaced by fixed track; this reduces the construction height to 1m. The road in the grade separated junction can be higher and the crossings can be shorter, having less impact on the surroundings. The alternative provides also new options for the cycling routes.