Archive - Tuesday, 9 March 2004


Find by date

Other ways to search

Also look for

Never miss anything again. Sign up for our RSS news feeds and Newsletters.

Town prepares for historic day

The long wait for a new bridge in Monmouth will finally be over, when Monmouthshire County Council formally opens the new Monnow Bridge on Monday.

The leader of the council, David Waring, and the chairman, Colin White, will jointly hold the ceremonial ribbon which will be cut by two of the younger pupils from the Overmonnow Primary School: Joseph Ruck and Bethany Trotter.

The two councillors will then lead County and Town Councillors, representatives from the Monmouth Chamber of Trade and local AMs across the new bridge and into the town to celebrate with a special reception at the town's Shire Hall.

The bridge will open to traffic a few hours later after the road markings at the approaches to both bridges are altered for road safety reasons.

The construction of the new bridge also means that the centuries-old original Monnow Bridge will once again become the domain of people walking in and out of town rather than the heavy vehicular traffic that currently dominates the bridge.

A community-led festival will celebrate the opening of the new bridge on Sunday 14 March involving local people, community groups and traders.

Commenting on the celebrations, Councillor David Waring said: "The opening of the new bridge is a historic occasion for Monmouth. As a resident of Monmouth, I am looking forward to the improvements that the new bridge will bring to traffic congestion in the town.

"I am also looking forward to seeing local people and visitors make more use of our historic bridge."

Monmouthshire County Council's Area Manager for Monmouth, Jenny Lewis, added: "The development of this new bridge means an awful lot to the people who live or work in and around Monmouth as it will make their day-to-day business so much easier.

"I sure that the new bridge, together with the proposed revamp of the old bridge, will act as a stimulus for economic growth and improve prosperity for local people and businesses.

"We should also pay tribute to the council officials and the contractors, Costains, for completing the project well within the project timetable.

For more information about the celebrations please contact the Monmouth One Stop Shop on 01600 775200