Hull is getting an increase in its number of footbridges. A couple of years ago a very modern swing footbridge was constructed over the lower River Hull just north of Myton bridge, this carrying the heavy east-west traffic over the River Hull between Castle Street and Drypool.
Now two further footbridges are under construction. For years it has been a problem for pedestrians to cross the A63 west of Myton Bridge walking from the Old Town to the Marina and Minerva Pier areas and vice versa. This plus the fact that the available pedestrian crossing caused hold-ups in the traffic flow which then backed-up east and west. Over the weekend (2nd, 3rd November) a newly constructed footbridge of futuristic design was installed over the A63, this should make the flow of pedestrians over the A63 more feasible and reduce the hold-ups in the flow of traffic along the road. The footbridge is not open to the public until March so that installation work can be completed.
The smaller footbridge under construction in the photo. above is in Pearson Park and when complete will provide access over the Park’s lake at its narrowest point. It does not have a practical function, as with the footbridge over the A63, but it does have a cultural function. It is one element in the Pearson Park Restoration project which seeks to replicate some of the Victorian features installed in the municipal park originally from the 1850s onwards. Other elements in the Restoration project include a new bandstand, for which the steelwork skeleton is now in place (see above), and a new conservatory for which the steelwork skeleton was erected only last week (see above).