‘£30m is not nearly enough to fix bridge’

MAYOR SPEAKS OUT ON A ‘REAL PROBLEM’ TO SOLVE

- By DANIEL HODGSON [e-mail] @TeessideLive

THE Tees Valley Mayor thinks that £30m is not going to be enough to fix up the Transporter Bridge.

Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen thought that the sum, confirmed by TVCA cabinet as part of a £978m allocation from central government, would not be enough to make the bridge safe again, let alone bring it back into operation.

During a radio appearance earlier this month, he also said building a road bridge where the Transporter is located would be a nonstarter due to its impact on businesses on the River Tees, as it would be too low to get the big ships underneath it

The mayor also highlighted an argument he had heard, which was that it could possibly be cheaper to start from scratch building the Transporter Bridge.

“Tt has been said to me, it would cost somewhere between £15m and £20m to completely rebuild the bridge,’ he added. “To keep it as it is, and fix it is going to be much more expensive.

“But because it's a heritage project and a cultural asset, obviously you can’t just knock it down and rebuild it”

He shared his view that the project should be a heritage one, rather than a transport scheme.