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Pictures: new arena pedestrian bridge
Bristol is being blessed with not one but two new bridges over to Arena Island under plans revealed fully for the first time.
Details released on Thursday show a new pedestrian and cycle bridge connecting the 12,000-capacity venue to the River Avon Path, which runs along the New Cut from St Philips to Brislington.
Designs for the inventively-named St Philips Footbridge have been submitted to the council for approval in the hope it will be constructed by 2017. Full designs for the arena, due to open in 2018, are currently with planners and are due to be debated by councillors in February.
The bridge joins Arena Island Bridge, which is nearing completion, and will take vehicle traffic from Cattle Market Road across to the old diesel depot behind Temple Meads station.
The new bridge will take visitors up onto Arena Island and into the new public plaza which will be in front of the £92 million venue.
A new drop-off area for cars and buses will be created on Albert Road, St Philips, near the new footbridge. The council said the River Avon Path will also be upgraded as part of the works.
Mayor George Ferguson said the new bridge was “elegantly engineered”. He added: “The area adjacent to the arena will be totally revitalised, becoming a vibrant new commercial and cultural quarter for the city.
He added: “I am greatly looking forward to crossing that bridge”
Pedestrian cycle, and public transport access to the new arena is being prioritised as the final project will have as few as 45 parking spaces on site.
A two-way segregated cycle path and a wider footpath on Cattle Market Road is being built and there are plans to create a similar segregated track along Feeder Road.
A new floating harbour walkway will connect the ferry landing stage at Temple Quay with the arena site, passing under Brunel’s railway viaduct and into Totterdown Basin.
Subject to planning approval, construction of the bridge will take place between August 2016 and April 2017. The arena is due to open in early 2018, with construction due to start later this year.
The new bridge will once again make it possible to complete the Bristol Bridges Challenge where walkers cross every bridge in the city only once, inspired by the Seven Bridges of Königsberg puzzle.
Full details of the arena can be found here.