'It's too little too late with plans still at a snail-pace'

HULL LABOUR CRITICISE COUNCIL'S HANDLING OF SCULCOATES BRIDGE

- By ANDREW SPENCE

THE opposition Labour Group on Hull City Council have criticised the authority's "snail-pace" plans to reopen Sculcoates Bridge.

The bridge, known locally as Chapman Street Bridge, has been closed to motorists for more than half a decade due to a "risk of collapse".

Earlier this week, the Liberal Democrat-run council announced it had appointed Mason Clark Associates, a Hull-based engineering consultancy, to start the next phase of restoration works on the Grade II-listed bridge which originally opened in 1874. It is the oldest surviving crossing over the River Hull.

The council has explained that the refurbishment of the bridge has been split into three phases. The first involved feasibility, concept design and early engagement. Phase two, design and full engagement, and phase three, building works to refurbish and bring the bridge back into use, will follow once preliminary work is complete.