River Hull footbridge saga has more twist and turns than Coronation Street
Exactly six months ago, I stood on the deck of the new £7m footbridge over the River Hull as it swung across the muddy brown water underneath.
I was there for a visit from Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which had inherited the project from the abolished Yorkshire Forward.
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Close to completion?: The new River Hull footbridge at Scale Lane
Even then, officials were noticeably twitchy when asked about an opening date for the crossing.
A possible low-key opening date in October was mentioned in passing but never confirmed.
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Having followed the project since its inception in 2005, I wasn't surprised.
There have been more twists and turns in this particular saga than a Coronation Street DVD box set.
Hindsight is wonderful thing but proposed riverside developments, which were meant to be linked to the bridge, have come and gone.
Regeneration agencies and governments have also come and gone.
Even Pat Ritchie has come and gone, resigning from the HCA last November to take up a new council job in Newcastle.
At least two years behind schedule, I'm told the bridge is still experiencing technical teething problems associated with its complicated design.
Instead of opting for a simple lifting structure, bosses at the former Citybuild agency went for the most technically complex – and expensive – option following a design competition.
Eight years on, we're still waiting for an opening date, although next month is now being mentioned as a possibility.
I forecast it will take at least another eight years for the onboard shop/café unit to be occupied.
Personally, I think the look of the bridge is pretty cool but the £7m spent on it surely could have been put to better use.
• TOP cop Rick Proctor was disarmingly honest at a recent council scrutiny meeting.
Hull's divisional commander was talking about the imminent arrival of Justine Curran as the force's first female chief constable.
"I have met her three times and have been very impressed," he told councillors.
"I think she will bring something unique to the role because females tend to be more consultative, whereas us men tend to go into tank commander mode and charge off in one direction without sometimes thinking too clearly what we are doing."
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by scouser0_2
Monday, March 25 2013, 11:20PM
“I would love to see the public accounts for this - its been an absolute farce from day one. The bill is going to be £8 million and for what? a bridge that goes nowhere, was ill-conceived, poorly designed, project managed and poorly constructed by the sounds of it. It's a numb piece of metal with no finesse that is totally out of character with its surroundings- unbelievable. The whole lot should have been scrapped when the Boom project crashed. This Council needs to take along hard look at itself especially when it is simultaneously closing libraries and bidding for the City of Culture status...hosting the next UK Laughter Festival would be more appropriate surely !”
by hulloffers
Saturday, March 23 2013, 11:28AM
“this bridge really does need to open, some of the plans involved in getting the old town back to how it should be have real potential but its a shame that a simple bridge has taken this long to get off the ground! hurry up!!”
by unified
Saturday, March 23 2013, 8:37AM
“There was never anything mechanically wrong with the Ennerndale tunnel.
It was quality of the workmanship that was at fault. They have managed to cross the Thames underground on numerous occasions and the Channel once. All we needed was quality of those working on it”
by MOGRAT
Saturday, March 23 2013, 2:46AM
“Did anybody expect anything else? No surprises there really, no one can seem to get anything right. Think back to the Ennerdale tunnel fiasco.. Ha ha, idiots really are in control......”
by thesnooper
Friday, March 22 2013, 10:50PM
“@ bt13jz
they did get the tunnel built at kingswood but it leaked like a sieve no need to wait for the flood of 2007 it filled up anyway”
by thesnooper
Friday, March 22 2013, 10:41PM
“@ bt13jz
they did get the tunnel built at kingswood but it leaked like a sieve no need to wait for the flood of 2007 it filled up anyway”
by thesnooper
Friday, March 22 2013, 10:41PM
“@bt13jz
they did get the tunnel built at kingswood but it leaked like a sieve no need to wait for the flood of 2007 it filled up anyway”
by SPBlakeney
Friday, March 22 2013, 8:52PM
“The Romans could probably have forded the river in less time than its taken to cross this thin strip of muddy water. 21st century engineering, marvellous.”
by rob37n
Friday, March 22 2013, 6:25PM
“8 years to build a bridge? I notice you don't mention the name of the contractors involved! I can just hear the excuses, "Oh you wanted it to go OVER the river, we didn't realise that.", "It's the wrong kind of mud Guv, gunks up the mechanism", or "We've got to pop off to do another job in Newcastle, but we'll be back next week to finish this off, honest". No amount of joking about this can make up for the disgrace and farce into which this project has descended. I hope that anyone who puts this as a success on their CV never finds work again. As for the Muppets who commissioned the most expensive and complex solution some sort of action should be take to recoup the costs from them directly. The average cat could come up with a better solution and project plan than this lot have managed.”
by Allon Homes
Friday, March 22 2013, 6:19PM
“Having been away for a few years and now come back I can see what they were trying to do by developing both sides of the waterfront. Its just a shame that the economic climate led to a shrinkage of the space required within the city centre thus effectively making this a bit of a white elephant. However, when things pick up the infrastructure is in place for this area to develop quickly.”