Swan Street Bridge redevelopment to be completed next week as government admits $21 million cost blowout

AFTER months of delays and traffic congestion, the Swan St Bridge upgrade will be finished next week, but the State Government has admitted to a massive cost blowout.

THE cost of a trouble-plagued redevelopment of Melbourne’s Swan St Bridge has blown out by $21 million.

The Andrews Government yesterday said the final bill for improvement works on the 70-year-old had ballooned from $30 million to $51 million.

The blowout follows a series of delays, building mix-ups and months of traffic congestion caused by the project.

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Roads Minister Luke Donnellan last year said he was embarrassed about delays and budget blowouts to the project but said they “certainly won’t be in the tens of millions”.

But yesterday he said the extra costs would be huge.

The Swan St Bridge will be finished next week. Picture: Nicole Garmston

“This project was in the too hard basket for too long, and while it’s been difficult, we’ve got on with the job and delivered this important upgrade,’’ he said.

Originally meant to be finished by last July, the Swan St Bridge redevelopment will ­finally be completed next week when pink LED lights will be lit up.

The new lighting system will display a “ripple” effect every hour.

The Swan St Bridge as it will be lit up from next week.

A technical blunder meant plans for the redevelopment had to be redrawn. Steel structures within the bridge were not located where they were marked in old plans.

A cycling path under the bridge was also deemed a safety hazard and had to be remodelled.

But Mr Donnellan said completion of the bridge should be celebrated regardless, particularly given the state workers found it in once they tore it apart.

“More than 30,000 people use this bridge every day,’’ he said.

The cost of the Swan St Bridge redevelopment has blown out. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“The concrete inside the structure was like honeycomb — engineers with decades of experience said they’ve never seen anything like it.”

A new fifth driving lane has been operating since April.

Riverside bike paths underneath were recently reopened after being closed for months.

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