The long awaited new Salmon Weir Pedestrian and Cycling Bridge is being officially opened today.
Construction work on the 80m bridge has been completed, with the final works involving reinstating the roads on either side for smooth access.
Newtownsmith and Gaol Road will be temporarily closed to traffic from 1pm to 3pm on Friday for the official opening ceremony.
The pedestrian bridge features three spans, roughly 10m, 55m and 15m in length respectively, across three waterways.
The bridge crosses Persse’s Distillery River (formally called Mill Race), the Lower River Corrib and Friar’s River (formerly called Waterside canal).
Plans for the new bridge have been in the works for years to ease pressure from the old Salmon Weir bridge, which is not suited to pedestrians and cyclists due to its narrow paths.
An Bord Pleanála first approved the plans for the bridge back in August 2021.
The City Council secured €3.5 million funding for the project from the European Regional Development Fund back in 2019, with matched funding from the National Transport Authority.
