The Old Wharf Bridge Closes For Six Weeks

The Old Wharf Bridge Closes For Six Weeks

The footbridge at the Old Wharf closes from Monday for six weeks of deck replacement, and there is no way across the water at that point while it is shut.

The detour

Either the harbour crossing to the east, which adds about half a mile, or the road bridge at Castle Gardens to the west, which adds rather more but is flat and lit.

If you walk to work across it, and a lot of people do, the harbour crossing is the one. It is not lit for the last hundred metres and it is unpleasant in the rain, and we would rather tell you now than have you find out on a wet Monday in October.

Buses

Unaffected. Nothing scheduled crosses the footbridge, for reasons that will be obvious.

Why now

Because the deck timbers failed an inspection in June, and the alternative was closing it without notice later in the year. The work was brought forward from the spring, which is why the notice has been short.

How long, really

Six weeks is the estimate and the contractor has said it is confident. It is a bridge over water in October, so we would treat that as a hope rather than a promise.

What happens afterwards

The new deck is a different surface, grippier and considerably less picturesque, and the handrail is being raised. The lighting is not being changed, which several people have already asked us about, and we have put the question to the council.

You were not supposed to cycle across it anyway. You now will not be able to, which will make no difference at all to the people who were.

Travel bulletins carry any change to this at twenty past and twenty to through breakfast and drive.