Council submits plan for new bridge over River Nene

The city council says Cygnet Bridge's handrail will have lights, to guide pedestrians across the deck

Proposals for a long-awaited footbridge over the River Nene have been welcomed.

Peterborough City Council has submitted a planning application for Cygnet Bridge - for pedestrians and cyclists - across the river from Fletton Quays to The Embankment.

According to the plans, the 311ft (95m) bridge will form part of the city’s "green wheel" and provide “a sustainable travel connection” linking a new university campus, the city centre and the cathedral.

Toby Wood, of the Peterborough Civic Society, said he was “pleased“ to hear of the plans, adding that they had been “a long time coming”.

Mr Wood, who has been campaigning for the bridge, said it could be “the first step towards the development of The Embankment” and he hoped to be “one of the first people to walk on the bridge”.

If the plans are approved, work is expected to start before end of 2024 and could be finished by summer 2025.

Toby Wood, from the Peterborough Civic Society, is happy to hear plans have finally been submitted

Previously, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority said current pedestrian and cycle links between the two sites were “inadequate, with poor infrastructure alongside busy city centre roads”.

The city council aims to make it quicker to walk between Fletton Quays and The Embankment to try to reduce traffic on city centre roads. It also wants to improve the riverfront and create landscaped features.

The bridge will give pedestrians and cyclists an alternative route across the city away from busy roads

The government has pledged £2m towards the project, with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority contributing £3.4m. The remaining funding will come from the city council’s redevelopment budget.