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Chocolate Path to finally be fixed
Bristol’s beloved Chocolate Path is to be repaired more than three years after it was shut due to serious subsidence.
While the path which runs alongside Cumberland Road was closed to walkers and cyclists, a large part of it fell into the New Cut in January 2020.
It will be fixed as part of plans to future-proof the city’s historic harbourside infrastructure, with £2.5m due to be spent around the Floating Harbour and New Cut over the next two years.
Bristol’s cabinet has approved £2,491,190 to finish the Cumberland Road stabilisation project, with works to reduce the risk of future collapse and enable flood defences to be improved at a later date.
This repair work will enable the Chocolate Path and historic railway line running adjacent to it to reopen to the public by summer 2022.
The Chocolate Path (its name comes from the resemblance of the paving blocks to chocolate bars) was built when the Bristol Harbour Railway linked Ashton Bridge with Wapping Wharf in 1906 – photo: Martin Booth
Kye Dudd, cabinet member for transport, said: “After decades of under-investment, we are acting now to ensure Bristol’s historic waterside is fit for the future.
“This significant injection of funding will not only enable us to carry out urgent work now, it will also mean we can identify future needs in advance, reducing the risk of increased costs in the future and keeping the waterfront safe and accessible for Bristol’s residents and visitors to enjoy.”
Main photo: Jon Usher
Read more: Dire warnings over future of New Cut
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