Mile End Bridge in Oswestry nears completion

Work to build a new bridge linking Oswestry town centre to the new Oswestry Innovation Park is nearly complete.

Photo courtesy of Beaver Bridges: The bridge being installed over the A5 in November 2023.

The Mile End Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridge, which now just requires the final site activities to be completed and formal technical approval, forms the second part of the three individual projects to enable and support housing and employment growth in the area, along with much-needed investment and development for Oswestry and the wider area.

The building of this bridge, before work begins on the new Oswestry Innovation Park was a requirement of the planning conditions and the council has worked alongside WSP, who designed the bridge and managed the contract, National Highways, and Shropshire-based specialist contractor, Beaver Bridges to complete it.

Once open, the bridge will provide safe and inclusive accessibility across the busy A5 to the new Oswestry Innovation Park, and beyond, on the east of the Mile End junction.

However, before it can be opened, lots of work needs to be done to prepare the park for development, including the building of three service roads, the instillation of utilities across the site and all the associated infrastructure. This work started yesterday (Monday 17 June 2024) and is being undertaken by McPhillips (Wellington) Ltd.

Due to the nature of these works, and in the interest of safety, the bridge will remain closed until these are finished.

The Innovation Park service roads and infrastructure are due to take 12 months to complete, followed by the build out of commercial units on the site, of which there has been a great deal of interest from a variety of businesses.

Communications will be released at key points during construction, with updates on progress including photographs and drone imagery.