A TEMPORARY footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists will open on Friday to allow the existing 135-year-old London Road Bridge to be demolished and replaced with a modern single-span bridge.
The pre-fabricated footbridge, which was installed in two 25-tonne sections by a 400-tonne crane positioned at the top of Litchurch Lane, sits alongside the old bridge and will be open for pedestrians and cyclists to use to travel along London Road from 1pm on Friday.
From next Monday, December 9, the junction of Litchurch Lane and London Road will then be closed to pedestrians and cyclists – meaning Litchurch Lane will only be accessible from its junction with Osmaston Road.
This is because it will no longer be safe to allow pedestrians and cyclists to pass through the demolition site, which will be directly above the railway lines.
The temporary footbridge will be lit in the evenings and there will be security measures in place. Cyclists are being asked to be courteous to other footbridge users and please dismount when crossing the bridge.
Once the temporary footbridge is open, preparations to demolish the old bridge will step up. Demolition of the existing London Road Bridge, which crosses the main Derby to Birmingham railway line, is on track to take place between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, when no trains will run.
The £6.9 million essential regeneration project is on-budget and on-target to be completed by August 2014.
