Anzac footbridge to link Cenotaph and Domain

HOBART will be revitalised with a new $8 million footbridge that will be a high-profile entry marker to the city.

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HOBART will be revitalised with a new $8 million footbridge that will be a high-profile entry marker to the city.

The bridge will link the city to its major park and complete the war memorial precinct – 100 years after commemorations at the site began.

The multi-use bridge will span 200m across the Tasman Highway to reconnect the Cenotaph with Soldiers Memorial Avenue on the ­Domain.

The memorial avenue of trees began in 1918 to commemorate the fallen in World War I, and the bridge is due to be completed in 2018.

The bridge will also connect the parklands of the Queens Domain and open up access to Macquarie Point.

The footbridge is part of a larger plan that will have five pedestrian bridges linking the city to the Queens Domain.

Hobart Lord Mayor Sue Hickey said the federally funded bridge was a “significant gift to the city”.

“Not only will a pedestrian bridge spanning more than 200m across the Tasman Highway be an entry marker to our city, it will provide a much-needed pedestrian link from Hobart’s key tourist precinct to its major city park,” Alderman Hickey said.

The major new public infrastructure project has been funded by an $8 million grant from the Federal Government’s Anzac Centenary Public Fund.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier Guy Barnett said completing the memorial precinct was aimed at honouring all those Tasmanians who lost their lives in war.

“This will become a commemorative focal point for the whole of Tasmania,” Mr Barnett said.

The Soldiers Memorial Ave­nue began when 390 trees were planted in August 1918 to honour local soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. A further 110 trees were planted in 1919, and more in the 1920s.

The Cenotaph was built in 1925, and intended to be adjacent to the avenue of trees. The two sites were severed by the Tasman Highway in the 1960s.

Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue group president John Wadsley said the bridge would be significant.

“We have always had a strong desire to reconnect the avenue with Cenotaph,” Mr Wadsley said.

He said he hoped the design of the footbridge reflected the significance of the memorial site.

RSL state president Robert Dick said the bridge would draw bigger crowds to the memorial sites.

“This will make one complete area for people to come and reflect and remember those who served,” Mr Dick said.

“I think it will draw crowds from all over Australia.”

The memorial bridge is one of five footbridges proposed under Hobart City Council’s 20-year management for the Queens Domain.

Alderman Jeff Briscoe said the first would be built between Bathurst St and the University of Tasmania’s Nursing School campus at the Domain.

The memorial bridge is the second to receive funding.

Another is planned for Clearys Gates over Brooker Highway, joining New Town to the Domain. Two are planned on the other side of the Lower ­Domain, joining the Botanical Gardens with the foreshore.