Marsden councillors welcome bridge repairs

May 29 2009 By Neil Atkinson

Marsden councillors welcome bridge repairs

WORKS has finally started on repair work to a Marsden bridge.

And the news has been welcomed by local councillors and residents.

The road over Ottiwells Bridge has been subjected to traffic delays for the past three years.

Ottiwells Bridge – which carries Mount Road over Wessenden Brook in Marsden – has been requiring strengthening works for the past four years.

It was one of a number of Huddersfield bridges identified in safety checks by Kirklees Council.

An assessment of the bridge revealed that it no longer had sufficient strength to carry the 40 tonne loads required by national standards.

This resulted in a temporary one-way bridge being installed in 2006 to allow the continued flow of traffic over the brook.

Local councillors say this has caused delays and inconvenience for residents and local businesses ever since and that the investment should have been made much sooner.

They claimed the route is often used to divert traffic from the M62 motorway and the A62 Manchester Road.