Lord Mayor reveals when Story Bridge footpaths will reopen

The Story Bridge’s crumbling footpaths will reopen to pedestrians, the Lord Mayor has confirmed, with funding and a timeframe locked in after they were closed with little warning in the days before Cyclone Alfred hit.

A time frame has been announced for when the Story Bridge’s footpaths will reopen. Picture: Dan Peled / NewsWire

At least one of the Story Bridge’s two crumbling footpaths will reopen by the end of the year as council pumps $18m in extra cash into fixing the landmark, but council is no closer to clawing funding from the state or federal governments.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Wednesday revealed $6.7m had been set aside for new decking which would be placed on top of the existing footpaths, parts of which dated to the 1930s.

He said manufacturing of the decking, which he expected to last “for years to come’’, would take about 17 weeks.

They would then have to be installed, at least partly at night because road lane closures were needed.

“Money is not the issue here, we’ve allocated all the money that is required to do this job,’’ he said.

“It’s all about how long it takes to manufacture and install the decking.’’

Mr Schrinner also announced $6m for urgent repairs and $6m for a business case which council hoped would persuade the state government, and possibly also the federal government, to chip in for a major bridge upgrade.

But he told journalists there still was no confirmation from either level of government for the plan.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Deputy Mayor Fiona Cunningham hand down the 2025 Budget. Picture: Steve Pohlner

According to last month’s Story Bridge Restoration Committee report the upgrade could cost in the order of $400m, based on a similar bridge in Canada.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently appeared to pour cold water on any funding deal, while state Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie has made no commitment.

However, Mr Schrinner said the Commonwealth recently agreed to a major bridge upgrade in Tasmania.

“I’m simply asking for a similar deal to what people in Tasmania would get — 80:20 is the funding split when you’re talking about (for example) Bruce Hwy upgrades,’’ he said.

“This (the Story Bridge) is part of a national movement network, this is not a local road.

“This is an asset that serves a national transport purpose, it is used 42 per cent by people from outside of Brisbane every day.

“People from Logan, Redlands, Ipswich, Moreton Bay are using the Story Bridge each and every day, so it’s a regional asset.’’

Council’s weekly meeting on Tuesday heard horrifying new details of the state of steel and concrete in the footpaths.

Mr Schrinner said a long list of engineering reports in recent years had given the footpaths anywhere from two, to five and even 10 years before needing replacement.

But he said another inspection, carried out to a level not possible before while the footpaths were still open, showed the damage was greater than previously thought.

“We’re taking a cautious approach here. We want people to be safe. In an abundance of caution, we’ve kept it closed,’’ he said.