Extra £300,000 has to be found for Shoreham footbridge (From The Argus)
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Extra £300,000 has to be found for Shoreham footbridge
4:50pm Thursday 21st February 2013 in News By Ben James
The old and new footbridges in Shoreham
A council will have to find yet more money for a footbridge which has more than doubled in cost.
West Sussex County Council has revealed it will have to find an extra £300,000 from its highways and transport budget to cover the costs of running a courtesy bus service for residents cut off from Shoreham town centre since the old footbridge was closed.
The extra money will push the cost of the bridge past £10million – twice the original estimate from December 2010.
The authority has been accused of failing to budget properly for the project.
A free bus service has been running since the 100-year-old footbridge was closed because of safety concerns.
Council officials say the service, which has been operating since August, carries 1,000 people a day and runs every 15 minutes for 18 hours.
A separate evening mobility service, which began in September and offered a door-to-door service for residents with disabilities, was cancelled this month because no-one was using it.
Council papers reveal that the costs for the bus service, run by Compass Travel, were not included in the original estimates for the project.
Businesses suffering
Independent Adur district councillor for Shoreham Ben Stride said the closure of the old footbridge had hit businesses in Ferry Road and traffic congestion had increased.
He added: “The council was naïve with the costing of the project in the first place.
“In any project of this scale, there should be a contingency fund for any costs that run over the projected budget.
“If the bridge was going to be out, you would like to think someone would have thought about how much a bus service costs from the start.”
Joss Loader, the vice-chair of Shoreham Beach Residents’ Association, said she welcomed the new bridge and that feedback from residents on the bus service had been positive.
She added: “Costs are always an issue with a project of this size and we’re aware the bridge is already costing nearly double the original estimates.”
A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: “The work on the footbridge is progressing and we hope to open in August.”
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Comments(13)
qm
says...
5:24pm Thu 21 Feb 13
risingphoenix
says...
5:28pm Thu 21 Feb 13
As are the companies involved in the build...
I wonder if anyone associated with the decision to go ahead in the first place have any connections to those who are benefitting at the taxpayers' expense?
Isaac Rinkfern
says...
5:45pm Thu 21 Feb 13
Apparently ADC had to cancel their Xmas party to be held in a local brewery due to organisational difficulties.
worthingite
says...
6:15pm Thu 21 Feb 13
1.There should be penalties for a late project.
2.Where did they think the money for the bus was coming from at the start,even Basil Brush could have guesstimated that cost.
The lead ADC project manager should be handing back his company car and walking out the door asap.
rfairweather@tiscali.co.uk
says...
7:03pm Thu 21 Feb 13
rolivan
says...
7:11pm Thu 21 Feb 13
nocando
says...
8:35pm Thu 21 Feb 13
Nothing new there, public bodies have a culture of flippancy with other peoples' money.
How do we get rid of these people?
HJarrs
says...
8:52pm Thu 21 Feb 13
Looks like the staging of the works could have been better thought through.
skippy981
says...
10:37pm Thu 21 Feb 13
Highways are nothing to do with Adur District Council, they are dealt with or more to the point not dealt with by WSCC, and as per usual it's the elected Councillors who get the stick when it's officers managing the project.
Boston Boy
says...
12:21am Fri 22 Feb 13
Sudseax
says...
12:59am Fri 22 Feb 13
"It is intended to complete the project before the end of March 2013."
"In order to minimise the period of time the crossing is closed it is intended that the northern most span of the existing bridge will be removed early in the construction programme and a temporary link span onto Coronation Green will be installed from the footbridge." "Latest estimates provided by main contractor Geoffrey Osborne Ltd suggest a total of 14 days
closure, down from previous estimates of approximately 4 weeks."
As well as hitting businesses on Ferry Rd, hundreds of cyclists a week are being directed onto the A259 on a stretch of road designated as a "route safety scheme - 46 casualties in 2 miles". It seems this situation will now last for nearly a year. WSCC have a poor record when it comes to responding to concerns about cycling safety, but it's surprising that Sustrans haven't insisted on something safer. Let's hope that the new bridge isn't eventually opened in memory of someone knocked off their bike.
Isaac Rinkfern
says...
11:42am Fri 22 Feb 13
skippy981 wrote:It is a joint project with part of the funding coming from ADC, and either way the councillors are the same people on both councils.
Some people need to read the story as it clearly says it is a West Sussex County Council ****-up not a ADC ****-up.
Highways are nothing to do with Adur District Council, they are dealt with or more to the point not dealt with by WSCC, and as per usual it's the elected Councillors who get the stick when it's officers managing the project.
The councillors are the conduit between the people and the officers, they are therefore our immediate point of gripe. If they were blameless, then why haven't they intervened? I am of course referring to the Tories who are the only ones with any ability to do anything whasoever.
PaulOckenden says...
4:52pm Thu 21 Feb 13