River Blythe Viaduct

The River Blythe Viaduct will be a 475 metre low-lying structure, just south of the new HS2 Interchange Station in Solihull, taking high speed trains between London and the West Midlands. It will cross the River Blythe and Meriden Road whilst anchoring itself to Diddington Lane Farm and Patrick Farm in Solihull.

Viaduct construction

The viaduct has received Schedule 17 planning approval from Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.

In order to minimise the impact on the local road network and nearby residents, an alternative access route will be constructed to access the viaduct directly from the A425, by-passing Meriden Road.

Viaduct design

Our designs for the River Blythe Viaduct, including landscape plans responding to community feedback, were shown at an event in Hampton in Arden, Solihull, on Tuesday 5 December 2023.

The viaduct is designed to skim the flat, agricultural landscape as it crosses the River Blythe, the floodplain and Meriden Road near Hampton in Arden. Feedback from the local community during previous engagement activities has been taken on board, particularly regarding tree planting and protecting the local environment.

The design aims to achieve better connectivity between existing areas of species-rich meadow. The wetland landscape around the viaduct will be enhanced and a new wetland link will be introduced from east to west under the viaduct, connecting the existing wildlife habitat.

Ecology work also includes restoring and creating marshy grassland, new lengths of hedgerow, and woodland edge planting, as well as installing bat boxes, bird boxes and hibernacula homes for amphibians and reptiles.

The space under the viaduct will allow safe passage for a range of species, including dispersal routes for badgers, bats, birds, fish, great crested newts, otters and water voles. The design will also allow views through and around the viaduct, and the polished concrete acoustic parapets will visually reduce the mass of the structure, as well as minimising noise for local residents.

In addition, the heritage integration plan for nearby Patrick Farm aims to preserve the site’s natural beauty and rich history through a number of measures, including restoring orchard planting to reflect the historical use of species such as walnut, cherry, hazel, apple and damson.

The landscape proposals enhance habitat and biodiversity connectivity alongside the viaduct, creating wooded embankments at either end of the structure so that trains emerge onto the viaduct from a woodland canopy.

River Blythe Viaduct information boards