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  • Lagan pedestrian and cycle bridge

    Topics:
    • Active travel, 
    • Transport initiatives, 
    • Major Roads Programme, 
    • Prioritised road schemes

    Information on the Lagan pedestrian and cycle bridge including, the feasibility report, proposed options, scheme assessment report, stakeholder engagement events, next steps, environmental statement, figures, appendices and flood risk assessment.

    Overview

    Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge 2024 image

    The Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge will be a twin-pylon cable-stayed steel bridge spanning 143m across the River Lagan from the Lagan Towpath at the Gasworks site to the Ormeau Embankment, close to the 'Ozone' indoor tennis centre and leisure complex. The steel superstructure will be supported on piled reinforced concrete piers and abutments, with approach ramps provided beyond the bridge at each end to tie into the existing pedestrian and cycle infrastructure. The width of the bridge at 5.0m, will accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists and improve linkages between communities from both sides of the River Lagan. It will also improve transport linkages to the City Centre for pedestrians and cyclists and accessibility to leisure facilities and parks for local communities and commuters. It will encourage sustainability by enabling people to choose healthier cleaner forms of transport and improve road safety to provide an alternative traffic free route.

    Visualisation videos

    Flythrough videos of proposed bridge layout.

    Feasibility report and proposed options

    The feasibility report, appendices and proposed options were published in April 2014 and can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

    • Feasibility report, appendices and proposed options

    Stage 2 - Scheme Assessment Report

    The feasibility report recommended that three options be considered further to identify a preferred bridge design. A Stage 2 Scheme Assessment Report has been completed which has identified a preferred bridge design.

    • Scheme Assessment Report and Appendices

    Stakeholder engagement events

    Two stakeholder engagement events were held on 28 January 2015 in the Shaftsbury Recreation Centre from 11am - 7pm and on the 29 January 2015 in the Indoor Tennis Centre and Ozone Complex from 11am - 7pm. The display banners and video can be viewed below.

    • Lagan pedestrian and cycle bridge banners

    The issues raised at the stakeholder engagement events and the Department's responses to these are available via the link below.

    • Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge report on outcome of stakeholder engagement events

    Planning Approval

    The planning application for the project was submitted in May 2015. The Environmental Statement associated with the planning application is available to view by downloading the links below. Planning approval was granted in April 2016 (Planning Application Reference: LA04/2015/0405/F) and a subsequent Section 54 application to vary conditions was approved in December 2020 (Planning Application Reference: LA04/2020/1563/F). A toucan crossing was installed on Ormeau Embankment which has ensured that the commencement condition included in the approval notice has been satisfied. A Non-Material Change to the planning approval was granted in May 2023 (Planning Application Reference: LA04/2023/2835/NMC) for minor changes to the superstructure and approach ramp design to accommodate a 400mm raise in the design flood level for the project.

    • Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge Environmental Statement, Figures, Appendices and Flood Risk Assessment

    Estimated cost

    A review of the estimated cost was undertaken in mid 2023, to take account of increases in costs that have occurred across the civil and building industries since the previous review in 2020. The revised cost reflects increases in the key construction costs, including the cost of steel for the superstructure, ground works and piling for the substructure and marine works. The revised estimated cost is in the range of £23m to £28m.

    Business Cases and funding

    An Outline Business Case (OBC) was produced by the then Department for Regional Development in May 2015. This included a full economic assessment and was approved by the Department of Finance (DoF).  To support the bid for inclusion in the final BRCD, the original OBC was updated and submitted to the BRCD Executive Board in August 2020. Following some minor updates, the OBC was submitted to the Department of Finance in October 2020 and approval was granted in January 2021.  A further OBC Addendum was produced by the Department for Infrastructure in October 2023, following the review of the estimated cost of the bridge in mid 2023.  This included an updated economic assessment of the project, to account for the revised cost estimate and benefits analysis of the preferred option. The OBC Addendum was approved by DoF in late 2023.  

    The project was submitted for inclusion in the Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) and formed part of the programme announced in October 2018 by the then Chancellor Philip Hammond MP in the Autumn Budget. The project was also included in the Heads of Terms document, which was signed by the Secretary of State Karen Bradley MP and BRCD partners in March 2019.  In December 2021 the Deal Document for the BRCD was signed, confirming the allocation of £12.1m of funding to deliver the Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge project.

    Design and Construction of the bridge will be jointly funded by the Department for Infrastructure and Belfast City Council, who will contribute of £12.1m from the Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) to the project. The remaining balance will be funded from the Department’s Active Travel budget.

    Procurement

    This is a Design and Build project and the procurement stage of the project is well underway. A revised procurement strategy was produced in June 2023 and draft contract documents prepared.  The Prequalification documents for this project were issued via the Department’s Procurement website in early autumn 2024.  In total six contractors made submissions.  A short list of four tenderers, was published in January 2025.  Now the Pre-Qualification Stage has been completed, the Project Team is finalising the invitation to Tender Documents which, it is planned, will be published on the Department’s eTender website in Spring 2025.

    Next steps

    It is expected the successful tenderer will be announced in autumn 2025, with design works commencing shortly after.  With a fair wind works on the ground could commence in late autumn 2025. 

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