Family are first to use footbridge

Local residents Claire and Adrian Clarke and their seven year old son Charlie were the first members of the public to use the bridge when it was opened by the A24 team on January 26.

Local residents for the past 20 years, Claire and Adrian live about a ten minute walk from the Horsham side of the footbridge.

Claire comments: “We cross the A24 every week to shop at Tesco’s and to walk our friends’ dog, so we are delighted that the new footbridge is now open for use.

“We were really surprised at how quickly the bridge was installed and think it’s a great improvement to the previous bridge, especially as cyclists and pedestrians have room to cross at once.”

A spokesperson from J Breheny Contractors said: “We are really pleased that the new footbridge is available for the public to use.

“The assembly of the bridge proved an exciting challenge to the team as it is the largest footbridge we have currently installed being 58.6 metres in length, three metres wide and 83 tonnes.

“It had to be delivered in four sections and craned into place.

“We would like to thank the travelling public for their patience during the recent night closures to install the footbridge.”