For the first time in more than 15 years, the Rochester Bridge Trust has carried out works that required one of its bridges to be fully closed to road traffic. This is a big deal for road users.
The first bridge at Rochester was built by the Romans on their main route from the Kent coast to London, and it was the construction of this bridge that led to the eventual settlement of Rochester, and later Strood across the river: the route is busy with both local and through traffic.
Today there are two road bridges, with traffic flowing in one direction on each bridge. The impact of a bridge closure is such that works are carried out one lane at a time. This closure was highly unusual.
Nothing could prevent the disruption, but the team was keen to do whatever it could to mitigate issues, with extensive awareness raising activities carried out to ensure the public was aware of the temporary closure for road traffic travelling from Strood to Rochester.
We also arranged for free parking in Strood. Project client partner the Rochester Bridge Trust approached the local authority and volunteered to cover the cost of lost revenue in the town’s three council-owned car parks for the duration of the bridge closure (6pm on Friday to close on Sunday), so visitors could park and then walk or cycle across the bridge to visit Rochester.
This was incredibly well received by the public and went some way to maintaining goodwill for the project.
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