The unveiled plans for heightened Humber Bridge walkway barriers are the "culmination of an ambition" for five years to improve public safety, Humber Bridge Board's chair Cllr Richard Hannigan has said. Cllr Hannigan, also deputy leader of North Lincolnshire Council , confirmed he regarded it as a 'landmark day' in the bridge's history. The Humber Bridge is the UK's longest suspension bridge, and was the longest such bridge in the world when it opened in 1981.
Public safety has been a concern in years since and in 2019, the Humber Bridge Board set itself the goal to make it safer. A feasibility study has finalised the preferred design for raised walkway barriers. Read More: Humber Bridge Board reveals £3m plan to raise walkway safety barriers New Magazine World store to open in Grimsby town centre next week These will be raised to a height of 2.
7m, as vertical steel posts with horizontal wire are attached to existing barriers. Because of its historic status, the bridge is Grade I listed. As such, listed building consent is now to be sought from East Riding and North Lincolnshire councils.
A linear process, exact dates for works cannot be given yet. In an interview with the LDRS, Cllr Hannigan indicated the consent process is expected to take at least three or four months. "What we think is from that point onwards, we are looking in terms of around 18 months for completion," he said of the works.
The barriers will be heightened on both sides. Currently, pedestrians and cyclis.
