Yahoo News Businesses near Corporation Bridge share views on continued closure and 'frustration' over lack of reopening date
Businesses close to Grimsby's Corporation Bridge have expressed their frustration at its continued closure - and lack of a reopening date.
Grimsby Live spoke to independent businesses in the bridge's vicinity. While footfall impact was mixed, difficulties for life or business logistics were reported and one man said he had learnt to ride a bike because of the traffic caused by its closure.
Cllr Stewart Swinburn, North East Lincolnshire Council's portfolio holder for transport, housing and strategic infrastructure, gave apologies to businesses and residents for its prolonged closure. He had no update on a reopening date, but confirmed the independent surveyor's report is with council officers, who have asked for more time to go through it.
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He said he and the council leader had not been privy to the survey report, and were just as frustrated as everyone else. Cllr Swinburn also committed to look at the funnelling of lanes in Victoria Street South, caused by parking spaces, raised by a business.
Corporation Bridge has been shut since February 2023. An initial reopening date just before Christmas was postponed indefinitely in October, after the discovery that its steel structures were in a much worse state than initially thought. Its listed status means the council must ensure the lifting mechanism still functions, as part of the repairs.
What businesses say
Vije and his partner own and run Fry Days fish and chip shop in Corporation Road, a short distance away from the bridge. He said the closure had impacted on footfall and they did notice the effect on footpath closure days too. "They're going all the way around to the town centre, or the other way," he said of the traffic.
Vije indicated he wanted a reopening date. "It's difficult because bills are going up," he said, raising cost of living generally and specifically electric and gas. It was "more difficult" to get around the town centre as well.
"We just have to take it as it comes," was The Food Hut's Sandra Burgess' take. She was not sure how much it had affected footfall to the cafe, which she opened around three years ago. "We opened in COVID and then got the bridge."
"Don't get me wrong, I am very busy," Sandra said, as also evidenced by the almost empty cake and sandwich dishes on the counters, as she got ready to close up for the day. Sandra described "being blocked in completely" where she lived with A180 works on one side and Corporation Bridge's closure the other.
"I do most of my shopping at Tesco, so I have to go all the way round," she added. Over at Cue World, a snooker club right by the bridge on its other side, a representative also reported no real impact on visitor numbers. "It's not affecting here," a staff member said of the closure and people coming to play.
Jason's Self-Drive Hire is one of the other independent businesses in the locality, along Victoria Street North. Jason and his son Michael Stylianou shared their thoughts. The closure had not had a huge impact on overall footfall, they both said, but Michael estimated its fuel sales had halved since the bridge's closure - though this was a very small part of their business. "Genuinely, it hasn't affected the business in terms of the trading, just made it difficult for people to get to us here."
"It's obviously made it very difficult for us on a personal level to get to our servicing guy," he said, explaining they were on the opposite side of the bridge. Michael was critical of the way the works had been done. "It's been a cock-up from start to finish," he said, though made clear he thought the contractors were doing their best.
"The biggest problem is the lack of foresight in how they're directing the traffic," he said. He believed traffic congestion into the town could be significantly eased by one measure.
"All they need to do to ease it is to stop parking outside the police station," he said. Parking on Victoria Street South outside Grimsby Police station narrows the road from two lanes to one, heading to town.
He also did not believe contingency had been made beforehand for finding the bridge in a worse state than expected, and felt repairs could have been done differently. "I appreciate for the history of the town and everything that the bridge is an iconic thing. At the end of the day, they could have rebuilt the bridge in a more modern way," he argued, and added cosmetic historic elements like the plaque could have been retained.
The traffic issues caused by the bridge's closures for his own travel around town had even led Michael to take a radical step. "It got to the point where I learnt how to ride a motorbike because it was taking so long."
He was "very frustrated with the whole situation", including other roadworks in the town. Two of the businesses spoken to indicated they believed the works would go well into next year. One claimed a worker had recently said they would be surprised to not be standing there working the same time next year.
Councillor's response
Cllr Swinburn said that he had no further update he could give on a reopening date. He and the council leader, Cllr Philip Jackson, are due to meet with the heads of the council departments involved on this in the coming days, to discuss the severity of the structure's problems, work options and cost implications. He added he may be able to give more information following this.
He confirmed the independent surveyor's report into the bridge's state is with council officers. "It's quite a large document, the assessment report that's come through from the independent surveyors," he explained. "Officers have requested more time to go through it in minute detail," he said, "to assess what's needed".
"Neither myself nor the leader, we've not been privy to the actual report. That's why we are challenging officers to let us know."
"We know they deteriorated further than they thought," he said of the bridge's structure. He stressed though this was a 100-year-old structure that had been suffering from the effects of weather over that time.
"Being a Grade II-listed structure, all we can do is to try to get it back and running as soon as we can."
"The six spans were a lot worse than anticipated. I know we have had problems with span four, which has held us back for quite a while" Cllr Swinburn said of the part responsible for the bridge's lifting mechanism.
"All we can do is apologise to the businesses and people," he added, before emphasising that government funding conditions played their part in when the works took place.
"I challenge them regularly on it about why we're taking so long to do this thing," he said of speaking to officers about the bridge's continued closure. On the Victoria Street South issue raised, he said any measure implemented would involve a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).
That legally requires a consultation period and would need to go through a portfolio holder meeting sign-off process, so cannot happen overnight. "I will ask officers to look at the particular situation," he added.
He acknowledged it was an issue, noting that it impacts traffic exiting the nearby Tesco Extra store. "We will be looking at an annual maintenance review," Cllr Swinburn also stated, of the bridge's upkeep in future.
"Myself, as the portfolio holder, and the leader, we are both just as frustrated as everyone else is on the length of time taken," he said. He added they were doing everything they can and would announce in good time further information they get on the bridge.
