Padlocks plea to stop damage at new bridge

USERS OF Hull’s newly opened Castle Street Bridge have been asked to refrain from fitting padlocks on to the structure amid concerns they could cause long term damage.

A spokesperson for Highways England, which runs the bridge officially known as Murdoch’s Connection, said users could take selfies instead to mark a “loving moment”.

It follows Twitter comments from Hull Council Chief Executive Matt Jukes who said there was no set policy on padlocks but some were recently removed from Scale Lane Bridge.

His comments came in response to Twitter users claiming padlocks had already appeared on the bridge which crosses the A63 about a month after it opened on Friday, March 5.

The Highways England spokesperson said: “While we are delighted that people are enjoying Murdoch’s Connection, we would discourage people from attaching padlocks to the bridge because in the long term it could damage the structure, which would spoil the experience.

“It’s great that people are choosing Hull as a place to declare their love, and perhaps there are other ways to demonstrate it.

“Selfies have become popular since the bridge opened, and would be the ideal gesture to mark a loving moment.”

Mr Jukes tweeted: “There isn’t a specific policy against it although they can cause maintenance problems and we had to remove some at Scale Lane bridge for this very reason. Reflecting this, we would obviously rather people didn’t attach them.”

Works to build one of the newest additions to Hull’s skyline began in Autumn 2018 but was later delayed after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 154ft tall, 200ft long bridge, for pedestrians, cyclists and disabled users cost £22m and saw workers put in more than 200,000 hours.