Bovey footbridge to be replaced with 38-week project - as councillors worry about impact
The proposed scheme could start in May
There's concerns about the impact of a 38-week scheme to replace an ageing pedestrian bridge in Bovey Tracey.
Devon County Council Highways Engineers say a replacement is needed, after the existing walkway over the River Bovey in Station Road was built almost a century ago and strengthened in 2010.
The town council says it also has 'worries about people having to walk through an unlit field at night to follow a path diversion'.
Sean Mills from Devon County Council’s Engineering Design Group told a meeting of Bovey Tracey Full Council that work on the 38-week project could start next May.
The authority is proposing to do away with the current cantilevered design, held in place by anchor points under the road on the ancient stone bridge, and build a new independent footway supported by columns.
He said road closures and traffic lights would be required and, in response to members’ earlier request for safer pedestrian access to the Co-op store, was considering options which may prevent vehicles turning right when leaving the shop’s car park.
Cllr Lisa Robillard Webb said: "That’s going to really impact the town massively, because we’ve already got a reduced 15 per cent footfall on the high street. I’m quite horrified as we’re already really struggling.’
Cllr Eoghan Kelly described the proposed temporary footway in the road as ‘a massive waste of time and energy’, saying there was existing pedestrian access to the Co-op and MAKE gallery through the car park off Le Molay Littry Way.
The meeting learned that diversionary footpaths on either side of the river would pass through a field and adjoining garden, with a temporary footbridge over the water.
Cllr Robillard Webb asked if there would be nighttime lighting.
‘That’s something I’ve still got to look at,’ said Mr Mills, prompting Cllr Robillard Webb to respond: ‘I would be nervous of walking through a field in the dark.’
The meeting also heard that part of the new path would be lowered opposite the Co-op in readiness for any future pedestrian crossing.
Mayor Cllr Sheila Brooke thanked Mr Mills for attending the meeting and welcomed his offer to return with updates to address the concerns members had expressed.
‘To their credit, they really have listened to us,’ she said.