TWO cycle bridges installed over a key Bournemouth route late last year cost the taxpayer nearly £1.5m, the Echo can reveal.
BCP Council’s two new cycle and pedestrian bridges over the railway line at Glenferness Avenue had a contract cost of £1.43m.
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Engineers spent 27 hours over an October weekend to remove the old bridges and install two brand new four-metre-wide, 31-metre-long prefabricated bridges.
According to an Echo FOI, BCP Council appointed London-based Octavius Infrastructure, a “leading transport solutions provider”, to construct the bridges.
Work included removal and disposal of the existing footbridge, the costs for materials including steel, fabricating the bridges at factories elsewhere, supply of the crane, manhours, traffic management and assembly.
BCP Council said: “The sustainable travel work on Glenferness Avenue and surrounding roads is funded through central government’s £79 million Transforming Cities Fund.
“The Department for Transport approved a total sum of £5.3 million to cover the costs of the improvements along the length of Glenferness Avenue from Talbot Roundabout to the Upper Gardens, of which the two new bridges form a part.
“Approximately half of this budget has been spent to date.
“The introduction improved facilities for more sustainable and active forms of transport aims to transform local travel, reduce road congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality and bring economic and health benefits.”
As reported, the new cycle bridges were praised by teachers in the area, including Andrew Bright, headteacher at St Mark’s Primary School.
He said the new design will “improve the safety of our students and their families”, adding he hopes to see a difference in the number of cyclists using their bikes.
However, this isn’t the end of active travel work along Glenferness Avenue, with more disruption expected and closures lasting until July.
Currently, Glenferness Avenue is closed from Talbot Roundabout to East Avenue as the council continues to build new cycle lanes along the stretch of road.
It’s also expected there will be a new parallel crossing, resurfacing work, drainage alternations, the removal of traffic islands and street lighting improvements.
With funding from south east Dorset’s Transforming Cities Fund, the work is part of the “sustainable travel route” linking Bournemouth town centre and Ferndown.
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