NO action is to be taken by Worcestershire County Council over the safety of the Musketts Way footbridge across the Bromsgrove Highway in Redditch.
The bridge has been the scene of a number of deaths prompting county leader, Councillor Simon Geraghty (Con, Worcester Riverside) to ‘take action’ over it within three months.
That was back in July 2016.
Now, 18 months later a report to the County Council recommends that no action be taken.
This is despite the bridge being the scene of 43 incidents in the last 10 years.
Back in 2016 the county had said putting a cage around the bridge, at a cost £60,000, was not feasible.
Former Redditch County Councillor Joe Baker, who has campaigned for the bridge to be made safer, said: “The county’s recommendation instead is to work alongside mental health groups, whatever that means.
“I was the proposer to make that bridge safer 18 months ago and it is disappointing that the County Council is not concerned about the value of those at risk.
“I’m also very disappointed at the length of time it has taken them to reach this decision. We were promised three months and it has taken them 18.”
The County Council’s Working Group into reducing the risk to members of the public using the bridge concluded there were no viable engineering options to significantly reduce any risk.
County officers said they felt that the structure of the footbridge could not sustain any significant modification.
