News / Bristol
Bristol’s £11.3m ‘bridge to nowhere’
Bristol’s multi-million pound Brock’s Bridge, hailed as a “vital lifeline” to the Temple Quarter regeneration project, remains unopened exactly a year after it was officially named.
A plaque unveiled by former mayor George Ferguson on March 16 2016 celebrated the completion of the pedestrian, cycle and motor link to the new ‘Arena Island’ development and its planned 12,000-capacity arena.
But exactly one year on, the £11.3m structure, named to honour the Victorian builder and entrepreneur William Brock, remains surrounded in fencing and construction notices – the odd spattering of fresh graffiti showing the only sign of life.
Funded by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) – the Government’s housing, land and regeneration agency – the construction was designed as a key element of the bid to breathe fresh life into this corner of Bristol.
Updating on progress so far, a spokesman for the HCA said: “The HCA is in the process of completing the final checks at Brock’s Bridge and the immediate surrounding area of Cattle Market Road in order to hand the bridge over to Bristol City Council so that they have possession in good time for their start on the Bristol arena.
“The HCA have worked closely with Bristol City Council over the past two years in order to deliver, not only the Bridge, but also public realm works within the wider Cattle Market Road area in order to enhance the approach to the long awaited Bristol Arena.”
The publicly-funded bridge project was given the green light in August 2015, when local growth minister James Wharton said it would “open up a world of opportunities” and be a vital link to the arena – that was then, due for completion in 2017.
The bridge is approximately 63m-long and 18m-wide, and is made of 137 individual pieces of steel weighing 820 tonnes.
Read more: Arena Bridge named after famous engineer
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