The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, was in Fremantle today with Member for Fremantle Josh Wilson MP, as well as local MPs for Fremantle, Simone McGurk and Bicton, Lisa O’Malley to mark the start of construction on the Fremantle Traffic Bridge across the Derbarl Yerrigan from Freo to North Freo.
All in attendance – the Ministers, the Members, their advisers, the journos and photographers, the Alliance people and the Main Roads WA folk – were resplendent in their hi-vis outfits and very smart work boots. The Fremantle Shipping News rep on site felt conspicuously conspicuous as the only non-booted attendee!
Anyway, the event proceeded as planned with speeches from Josh Wilson, Catherine King and Simone McGurk.
As Minister King explained, the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments have each committed $215 million towards the $430 million project.
It will be Australia’s only extradosed bridge, a design that incorporates both cantilevers and cable support, and will replace the ageing timber frame bridge, which has required significant investment in recent years to maintain its structural integrity.
Everyone expressed pleasure that the new bridge construction is now happening apace.
Simone McGurk expressed pleasure with the ultimate design of the new bridge, which she still hopes will be coloured purple.
On the timeline, we learned that for the next 12 months while bridge construction work proceeds, vehicular traffic over the Old Bridge each way, into and out of Freo through North Freo, will still flow.
However, towards the end of next year, 2025, the Bridge will close to traffic of all sorts while the final steps in construction take place and the new bridge platform is laid.
The new bridge construction is expected to be completed towards the end of 2026.
Let’s hope some of the materials from the Old Bridge, especially good timber, can be salvaged and fashioned into an impressive sculpture by which we can all remember the Old Bridge.
By the way, it was just 4 years ago, on 11 September 2020, that the Shipping News convened a Town Hall meeting that called upon the Premier to pause plans to demolish the Old Traffic Bridge. Obviously, forgiving the pun, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.
Four years on, the first sod has now been turned for the construction of the new traffic bridge.
By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News
