Your say / Transport
‘There will be mild inconvenience, not chaos, when the Banana Bridge closes for repairs’
The word ‘chaos’ invoked the ire of Marvin Rees at a recent cabinet meeting when he read out a story in the Bristol Post envisaging pandemonium when seven bridges across the New Cut will be closed for repairs.
Rees has a good point. There will be mild inconvenience, not chaos, when the Banana Bridge and other bridges across the New Cut are shut.
Why are these repairs only starting now? Rees, who became mayor in 2016, says that he inherited “a legacy of underinvestment”; but money has only now been allocated to repair these bridges just 11 months before his term of office will end.
is needed now More than ever
The closure of Gaol Ferry Bridge has undoubtedly impacted the businesses at Wapping Wharf and necessitated long and frustrating diversions for pedestrians and cyclists heading from Southville into the city centre.
Many people living in south Bristol feel like they have been cut off from the rest of the city.
Adequate alternatives have not been provided during the closure of Gaol Ferry Bridge and I hope that lessons have been learned that can be applied when other bridges are closed in order to lesson the inconvenience.
No other foot crossing is as busy as the bridge that replaced the ferry that used to be rowed up to the former jail / gaol.
I doubt that many people could point to Sparke Evans Park Bridge on a map. I used to cycle over it every day when the Bristol24/7 office was in the Paintworks but was only ever joined by a handful of other people crossing it.
Vauxhall Bridge is probably best known for featuring in the opening scene of the very first episode of Skins.
More major disruption is likely when repair work starts on the twin bridges of Bedminster Bridge and Bath Bridge.
Unfortunately, Bristol City Council does not have a great track record on fixing things in a timely or cost-efficient manner. Just look at the continuing saga of the Chocolate Path, cast your mind back to the never-ending Temple Gate roadworks or balk at the spiralling Bristol Beacon overspend.
But the fact is that if money is not spent on repairing these bridges as soon as possible, they will likely have to be closed or their repairs will take even longer. Then there might be chaos.
Main photo: Martin Booth
This is an opinion piece by Martin Booth, the Editor of Bristol24/7 and a big fan of Bristol’s bridges. Come on a walk around the hidden corners of the Old City with Martin and Yuup: www.yuup.co/experiences/explore-bristol-s-quirkiest-corners
Read next:
- Tides blamed for latest delays to Chocolate Path repairs
- Former journalist Rees criticises standard of Bristol’s media
- Rees: ‘We inherited a legacy of underinvestment’
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