LUCEA, Hanover — The National Works Agency (NWA) says it has no problem with the width of a pedestrian bridge, which was recently erected parallel to the Lucea West (Riley River bridge).

Previously the Hanover Parish Council voiced concerns regarding the bridge, put in place to accommodate the National Water Commission (NWC) water main as well as pedestrians.

“The NWA is satisfied with the pedestrian bridge which has been placed at the Riley Bridge,” stated Janel Ricketts, Community Relations Officer for the NWA-Western Region, in relations to query made by the Observer west.

Two weeks ago members of the parish council, including councilor of the Sandy Bay division Lloyd Hill, expressed reservations over the dimensions of the bridge, during a meeting.

“There is no arrangement there for a walking bridge. The space between the pipes and the rails is not sufficient for walking purposes, maybe sufficient for workmen to repair the pipes. But in the midst of us trying to establish a walk-foot bridge, it might have been said that they would have used an iron bridge to hold their pipe.

But that’s not a footbridge,” Hill told the Mayor of Lucea, Wynter McIntosh, during the council’s meeting.

Hill’s argument was supported by the Mayor, who said that he too was dissatisfied, and would be calling on the engineers to give answers.

“What I will do is invite the engineers again, and they must give us a full report on one, the Bailey bridge that we were promised, because that is easement for laying a pipe, and two, for the reconstruction of the roadway. So, we will call them after the meeting to set a date,” McIntosh said.

Deputy Mayor of Lucea, Neville Clare, on the other hand, stated that he did not have an issue with the width of the bridge, but had a problem with access to the bridge by wheel chair users.

“In all fairness, the Bailey bridge, as is, will accommodate pedestrian walkway and the pipeline as it is,” said Clare who is also a retired NWA deputy parish manager for Hanover.

Clare continued, “I can’t believe you can sit here and say that they were just trying to accommodate the laying of the pipe. We asked for a footbridge and we got a footbridge that pedestrians can traverse. So it is not fair to say it cannot accommodate.”

But Rickets insisted that, “the span between the pipe and the rest of the bridge is approximately five feet by six inches wide. The technical team has assured me that this will provide adequate space for use by pedestrians.”

The National Water Commission (NWC) Western Region Public Relations Officer Julia Gordon told the Observer West last week that, “the size of the bridge that was build was determined by the NWA and not the NWC.”

“We have no control over the size. So, we just had to do what we were instructed or based on what guidelines they (NWA) had put forward.”

Rickets had stated that the bridge, though not an original part of the pipeline project, was designed by the NWA to improve pedestrian safety and also to accommodate the NWC pipeline.

“We are now in the final stages of completing works on the pedestrian bridge. It is anticipated that the access points for the bridge will be completed within another week, following which, the NWA will allow pedestrians to use the structure.”

The pipeline was recently laid by the NWC as part of a US$12.6 million Lucea water-expansion programme. Groundbreaking for the project took place in September of 2013 by Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Robert Pickersgill.