St Mary's Bridge in Bestwig to be barrier-free and illuminated in future

Bestwig. A plus for all users: the Marienbrücke bridge, which connects Ludwigstraße with the Bürgersportpark and Bähnchenweg in Bestwig, will be barrier-free in future and will be fitted with lighting. The previous bridge construction has already had to be dismantled for preparatory work - the Marienbrücke can therefore not be used for the time being.

The background: until now, the Marienbrücke could only be reached via several steps - a considerable obstacle for pedestrians with disabilities, people with walking frames or families with pushchairs. In addition, the bridge was difficult to see in the dark. For this reason, numerous citizens had asked the municipality of Bestwig to change this situation - signatures were even collected.

With the new bridge, the municipality of Bestwig not only wants to create greater accessibility, but also enhance the pathway as a whole: in recent months, numerous new sports and exercise facilities have been created on the civic sports ground that appeal to people of all generations. In addition, the Bähnchenweg, which is a popular link between the Ruhr Valley and the villages of the Valmetal, will become more accessible.

In recent weeks, four lamp posts have already been installed in the area of the Marienbrücke bridge. In order to create accessibility, the bridge structure needs to be replaced. "Thanks to a different bridge structure, the upper edge of the pavement will then be around 30 centimetres lower without reducing the flow cross-section for the Valme below," explains Dipl.-Ing. Hubertus Kreis from the construction and environment department of the municipality of Bestwig - an important prerequisite for effective flood protection.

Providing the previous bridge with a ramp was a solution that was not feasible, explains Hubertus Kreis: "This ramp would have had to be so long that it would have impaired the use of the neighbouring properties." The existing bridge will by no means be "disposed of": the municipality of Bestwig will store the wooden structure until it can be used again at another location in the municipality.

In order to be able to install the new bridge, work is already being carried out on the supporting structure - the connection from Ludwigstraße to the Bürgersportpark must therefore remain closed. The "new" St Mary's Bridge, including the lighting, is expected to be open to traffic in the first half of October. The municipality of Bestwig has earmarked around 80,000 euros in its budget for the work on St Mary's Bridge.