Council leader vows delayed projects won’t be abandoned
COUNCIL leader Susan Aitken has pledged eight projects delayed over the increased cost of the Govan to Partick bridge will not be abandoned.
The deferred schemes include work on an expressway footbridge, estimated at £1.2 million, and an £11m plan to improve pedestrian and cycle routes and quay walls around the Scottish Event Campus.
The projects around the riverside are being postponed because of the extra £12m needed to build the Govan to Partick bridge.
The £29.5m pedestrian and cycle bridge – which had originally been estimated to cost £17.5m – has been described as the “pivotal” project in plans for a Clyde waterfront and West End innovation quarter.
Design changes, the rise in steel prices and supply chain problems related to the pandemic and Brexit have led to the price jump.
Councillor Aitken said the eight held-up schemes are “very important” and alternative funding will be sought to cover their costs, including from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund.
She said: “I want to emphasise that this is not cancelling these
projects, it is not abandoning them. They are very important projects.
“While the recommendation is that the sub-projects are deferred, it is also recommended that officers are instructed by committee today to continue to work with stakeholders to support the delivery of these sub-projects through additional sources of funding.”
Speaking at the City Administration Committee yesterday, the council leader also warned councillors to expect more cost increases across construction plans.
Improvements to the quay walls at the Briggait/Lancefield Quay, estimated at almost £11m, and at Yorkhill Quay, expected to cost £1.2m, will also be pushed back until later.
The other affected projects include a £3.1m scheme at Govan Graving Docks to ensure Govan “contributes to, and benefits from, the city’s aspiration for a River Park” ,as well as work on a Canting Basin bridge, valued at £588,000.
Plans to improve the pedestrian route between Cessnock Subway and Pacific Quay have also been postponed.