Council bosses have promised to learn lessons over a planned 400m footpath which will cost almost £10 million. The Harbour Walkway will connect the new university campus behind Temple Meads with the ferry stop at the Valentine footbridge, but is years behind schedule.
The footpath was initially expected to cost £2.5 million, but due to several problems the price tag is now expected to hit £9.7 million — equivalent to £24,000 per metre. An update on the cost was given to councillors on the transport policy committee on Thursday, February 6.
Adam Crowther, head of city transport, said: “The aim was to improve connectivity around Temple Meads, which has long been a barrier to movement. We have the eastern entrance, which is a very big benefit to access to the station, but it doesn’t provide a through-route past the station.
“The Harbour Walkway enables movement along the harbour, providing a through-route for pedestrians and cyclists wishing to access the city centre. The benefits are significant and will increase as developments in the area continue to progress.”
As well as the new campus being built by the University of Bristol, many new buildings are planned in the wider area. This includes the offices and flats on Temple Island, where the new arena was initially going to be built, as well as new flats along the Bath Road. All the new people living and working in the area will add to pressure on the transport network.
The cash to pay for the walkway came from when the council sold the campus land to the university. The site was previously used by the Royal Mail as a sorting office, which was demolished a few years ago. As part of the sale, the council promised to build the walkway.
Mr Crowther admitted the plans have “had a lot of issues”. He added: “Clearly there’s a lot of lessons for us to learn.” Internal auditors recently flagged serious problems with how the council manages and monitors its thousands of deals with contractors, while budget cuts have led to fewer project managers in many departments with less oversight of infrastructure projects.
As with many projects, the pandemic and then high inflation led to costs skyrocketing and lengthy delays. Then, part of the harbour wall riverbank collapsed during a severe storm. Unfortunately for the council, the part of the bank that collapsed was one of the tiny remaining parcels of land it owns near the new university campus, so taxpayers were liable for the repairs.
Another delay was caused by the collapse of a dredging company, contracted by the council to clear up the riverbed. Challenges to access the site was another key factor increasing the costs. A lot of progress has now been made however, with columns in place to which the pontoons will be connected. The pontoons are still being constructed in Spain, and need to be shipped over.
Liberal Democrat councillor Nicholas Coombes said: “I’m horrified that the contract has spiralled like this. There’s a really, really tiny strip of river wall which isn’t big enough to put a footpath on, but is small enough for us to have an ongoing liability. This is an incredible deal the university got.”