Concepts for a skeletal suspension bridge have been unveiled as the preferred option for a new pedestrian crossing in Wolverhampton. The design is by Johnson Design Partnership with structural input from WSP.
The designs have been prepared as part of a feasibility study for Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, Wolverhampton Regeneration Company, the City of Wolverhampton Council and the University of Wolverhampton.
The aim is to review the feasibility of a footbridge across the ring road to remove the complete reliance on a subway, which currently forms the only connection. The new footbridge would also provide an opportunity to consider including a new route, as the idea is that it could have more than two landing points.
Significant attention is being paid to how the bridge looks from below, as well as above, because it will be a landmark gateway for the city. The ring road is currently isolating a part of Wolverhampton, Molineux, that has recently grown in importance and profile and which needs to be reconnected to the centre. The subway does not have the capacity to deal with future increases in footfall and does not offer a particularly safe route for people, including students travelling between their halls of residence and the main campus.
