A NEW €3.5m pedestrian footbridge across the River Lee from Merchant’s Quay to Patrick’s Quay is to be built by Cork City Council with a decision to fund the project expected from the government in the coming days.
The Harley Street bridge is one of five projects worth €20m that Cork’s city and county councils have submitted for funding to the Southern Regional Assembly under the Designated Urban Centres Grant Scheme.
Merchant’s Quay and Patrick’s Quay will be linked with a new pedestrian/cycle bridge.
The €7m Marina Park at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a €2.4m cycle greenway linking Passage West with Carrigaline, €1.1m invested in Cork city’s historic spine and €6m in development works on the river Lee’s southern channel to create flood defences and amenity spaces.
At least one of the projects is expected to be approved for funding shortly with the council’s confident the other four will also be granted funding in the future.
The scheme provides half the funding value with the council to provide the other half.
The Harley Street Pedestrian Bridge is one of the elements of Cork’s City Movement Strategy that plans to pedestrianise Patrick’s Street and revert MacCurtain Street back to a two-way traffic system.
The developments on the historic spine include works to the Shandon Butter Exchange building, the Lido in Blackpool and the cottage buildings inside Elizabeth Fort.
The Cork Harbour Greenway will extend the cycle path from Blackrock to Rochestown onto Carrigaline.
As well as flood defence works to the South Channel funding would be used to provide a linear civic space for amenity purposes to better embrace the river Lee.
Pat Ledwidge the deputy Chief Executive of Cork City Council and the head of Strategic Planning said they made their applications for funding in October and they were currently being assessed. “We have indications there may some announcement before Christmas. Maybe not the full allocation but part of it,” he said.