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Work to complete Anderston’s Bridge to Nowhere commences

October 3 2012

Work to complete Anderston’s Bridge to Nowhere commences
Glasgow’s notorious ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ is finally going somewhere with Raynesway Construction moving on site to complete the severed link – 40 years after construction began.

The Connect 2 Anderston footbridge refurbishment will introduce a direct pedestrian and cycle link between Anderston and the city centre… a link was severed in the sixties when motorway construction began.

The partnership scheme is being led by Glasgow City Council and the Big Lottery as part of the Sustrans Connect2 project which links Kelvingrove Park, as well as the River Clyde, via segregated cycleways and traffic calmed routes.

A later phase will establish a link between Anderston and the River Clyde at Anderston Quay.

Work to finish the £2.25m bridge is expected to complete by spring 2013.
The phased scheme will reconnect the west end, city centre and River Clyde
The phased scheme will reconnect the west end, city centre and River Clyde

9 Comments

James Tallent
#1 Posted by James Tallent on 4 Oct 2012 at 10:37 AM
Complete waste of time and money.

The bridge was obviously built around the same time as similar structures in Cumbernauld: and now looks equally outdated.

We should be lookjing at ways to ameliorate the impact of the M8 through the city centre - covering over the section by the Mitchell, removing some of the sliproads, dismantling the hideous pedestrian bridges such as this one and the one at Charing Cross.

Some people seem to want Glasgow to be hideous looking.
Sven
#2 Posted by Sven on 4 Oct 2012 at 11:09 AM
Actually covering over the M8 by the Mitchell will look great. Some raised grass areas, benches and trees and the area will be inviting and make the Mitchel building look even more impressive.
Ray Davis
#3 Posted by Ray Davis on 4 Oct 2012 at 11:40 AM
I agree i have been suggesting creating an urban space in front of the Mitchell Library for years.
Neil
#4 Posted by Neil on 4 Oct 2012 at 11:49 AM
#3 Everyone has, it's been a student proposal at the Mack since the early 1980's.
I like to ride my Bicycle
#5 Posted by I like to ride my Bicycle on 4 Oct 2012 at 13:59 PM
Some joined up thinking going on in the council!
A cycle path for those that need to have their hand held and be separated from traffic, children or families perhaps. Leading from the lovely Kelvingrove park and its surrounding comunities through an area of the city ripped appart by plowing a motorway through it culminating in the much undervalued River Clyde and its civilised new walk way which sounds like a good idea if you ignore the proposal to rip up the new walk way at vast expense to be replaced with bars and restraunts cluttering up the walk way and destroying the river edge, dont get me started on that casino further up placed right in front of the Clyde Port Building, sounds like a lovely day out!

Just to top it all off they are completing the bridge to nowhere which we have managed without for all these years. I cant wait to cycle up up and over one winters evening when the traffic is raging, in the dark pissing rain with a gale blowing, im struggling to think of a more hostile environment.
Robert
#6 Posted by Robert on 5 Oct 2012 at 19:37 PM
#5, I couldn't agree more about the Clyde and the public realm thereabouts. Actually all these posts hit the nail on the head.
Kevin Steele
#7 Posted by Kevin Steele on 8 Oct 2012 at 08:17 AM
the way the above comments are decrying the completion of the bridge, you'd think they were instead building the missing part of the Anderston Centre to meet the bridge coming from the other side....Hit the nail on the head?? no - its the same old moaning about the M8 as if anything can now be done about it retrospectively. The motorway is here to stay and wishing it'd magically vanish isn't going to change anything. We now have to manage what structures we have as best we can, so finishing the bridge and getting some use out of it instead of it standing as a folly as it has been for the last 42 years has to be applauded.
David
#8 Posted by David on 8 Oct 2012 at 16:30 PM
As a potential cycle link completing the route from the west end to the heart of the City Centre I think it is actually a sensible move. I would wager that it will be used a lot more than people think. I agree though that it will be a pretty hostile environment for a pedestrian on a winters evening, but it will definately be used by cyclists.
I like to ride my Bicycle
#9 Posted by I like to ride my Bicycle on 9 Oct 2012 at 10:51 AM
I rather liked the bridge unfinished, it may have been a folly but to those who have a grasp of Glasgows recent history it was one of the more visible clues to 'The Greater Glasgow Transportation Plan' / 'Bruce Report' / 'Inner Ring Road' that was never quite finished. Looking objectivly at whether the bridge will be used by cyclists im not sure it will. I have always taken the 'high road' Charing Cross, Bath Street, St Vincent Street or the 'low road' Clyde Side when moving through town. When you look at its position on the map taking into consideration the level changes involved, forgetting those of the bridge itself, it seems like hard work. I look forward to being proved wrong and will indeed give it a go.

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