A FOOTBRIDGE used by pedestrians and cyclists to cross one of Chipping Sodbury’s busiest roads will be demolished.
The footpath spans a dual carriageway stretch of the A432 Kennedy Way in Chipping Sodbury, carrying a path between Mallard Close and Highfield Road.
Its demolition is included in a list of council capital highways projects for the new financial year, which ends in March 2027.
The entry on the list states that the bridge needs to be demolished because of a “high risk of failure due to half joints and post tensioning” – the same type of concrete bridge structure used in the A432 bridge over the M4, which was condemned in 2023.
Issues revealed in a structural investigation of the old M4 Badminton Road bridge, which was built in 1966, led to it being closed immediately to motor traffic.
But the M4 bridge remained open to pedestrians and cyclists until shortly before it was demolished by National Highways last year.
The listing for the Kennedy Way footbridge recommends that the council “remove the structure prior to collapse”.
It says there are alternative crossings of A432 available, but these are 400m away in each direction.
No details of the cost of the works or likely timescale or need for road closures are included in the report,.
The Voice has asked South Gloucestershire Council for a statement on the project.
The council says it expects to release more details in the coming weeks.
Also on the list for the coming year are plans for a new pedestrian crossing at the junction of Heron Way and Kennedy Way and on Rodford Way in Yate, as well as on Badminton Road, Old Sodbury.
Road safety improvements are being planned for Sodbury Lane, Chipping Sodbury, to support a proposed permanent speed limit change.
The council has also published a list of roads where resurfacing work will be carried out over the next 12 months.
Resurfacing is planned for Westerleigh Road between Nibley Lane and the Rodford Way Roundabout, with more “surface dressing” on Westerleigh Road between the Wapley Road junction and bridge over the M4, the east spur of Somerset Avenue in Yate and Tree Leaze in Yate.
Footpath resurfacing is planned for Hounds Road in Chipping Sodbury at the crossing near St John’s Mead C of E Primary School, and in Brandash Road, Hartley Close and Kingrove Crescent.
Improvements to bus stops, shelters and passenger information, as well as funding to support improvements at railway stations within South Gloucestershire are on the list of projects due to be progressed.