Richard Bax, General Manager, Water & Facilities for the Waikato District Council says that the draft detailed design of the Kopua Footbridge is complete and will be considered for approval by the Council subcommittee this week. The meeting is at 2pm tomorrow, Wednesday 7th April in Committee Room 3 at WDC’s Ngaruawahia office. Mr Bax said, “The council subcommittee is meeting on Wednesday next week to consider the draft detailed design. If it is accepted, then the next phases of completing the design in preparation for tender, and the resource consent applications will begin. The plan is to complete the new bridge by early December 2010, but this is subject to the consenting process.”
When asked by Raglan cycling advocate, John Lawson, if the bridge design was shared use for cycling and walking, Mr Bax said it was. He said that the proposed width is 2.3 metres and that this is planned to cater for future use. Mr Lawson has pointed out that this does not meet the Hamilton City Development Manual which WDC now works to. It appears that the design guide specifies that shared use cycleway footpaths have a 2.5 metre minimum width (3.0m pref). Mr Lawson said he saw no reason why the width of the bridge should not be at least 3 metres.