We wonder if…

THE High Street bridge project seems to have been de-railed. We wonder if it will ever be completed. On Monday this week there was no activity on the site, although contractors may still be on their annual holidays.

The bridge over the railway lines at the north end of High Street is theoretically going to join the upper and lower parts of High Street, although the two sections will not be joined in a straight line.

For reasons not immediately clear, the bridge has been constructed at right-angles to the railway lines which at this point are not at a right-angle to High Street. It means that at the north end of the bridge, there will be a “dog leg” into High Street where it intersects with Hird Street.

The rumour though, which might account for the stalling of work in the last months of last year, is that it has been discovered that to accommodate the “dog leg” and the ramp to get down from the level of the bridge to Hird Street, it will be necessary to encroach into the residential property on the corner of Hird and High streets.

The rumour is that the municipality will have to buy that property upon which a house stands, and the rumour is that the home-owner does not want to sell.

Why the civil engineer who drew the plans for the bridge did not appreciate the space required to finish its northern access, is not known.

Why the bridge was not simply designed and constructed to link the upper and lower sections of High Street, in a straight line, is not known.But it’s just a rumour.