Proposed new £1.4m footbridge over River Bann at Bannfoot 'progressing' through planning stages

Lobbying for a bridge over the River Bann, where it enters Lough Neagh on the south shore, has been long process since the ferry stopped bringing vehicles and people across in 1979.

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A feasibility study, commissioned by the Department for Infrastructure, has just been released having been published in 2023.

It looked at 3 options, a footbridge, a vehicle bridge and a third option of no bridge. The footbridge has been recommended.

A Department for Infrastructure spokesperson, in a letter to a lobby group, said: “The project is currently progressing through the design and initial planning approval stages.

"It is hoped that proposals will be available for consultation with stakeholders and the community in late 2025 or early 2026. Delivery of the project will be subject to the successful completion of the relevant statutory processes and availability of funding at the appropriate time.”

The feasibility study was sent to Cycul, a not-for-profit organisation promoting events and projects to encourage cycle culture and cycling in Northern Ireland.

Previous proposals by the former Craigavon Borough Council to erect a bridge over the Bannfoot at the River Bann where it enters Lough Neagh in Co Armagh, were thwarted after some residents objected to the proposals.

The first crossing at the Bannfoot is recorded in 1760 and existed until the hand operated ferry ceased in 1979. It remains the only river on the shoreline of Lough Neagh with no dedicated crossing.

The closure of the ferry meant many with family members on both sides of the River Bann had to make a long 25 mile round trip to visit relatives and friends.

In 2022, the then Minister for Infrastructure John O’ Dowd announced plans for a feasibility study into a new bridge. This footbridge recommendation is in the completed report which has been sent to the cycling lobby group.

This report is proposing a footbridge across the river at Bannfoot spanning 40 metres.

The provision of a new bridge at Bannfoot is ‘likely to require environmental assessment as it progresses through the design irrespective of whether the preferred option is a footbridge or a bridge for vehicles’, the report states.

Costs between a footbridge and a vehicle bridge are significant. A footbridge is estimated at between £1.1m and £1.4m while the road bridge is estimated at £3.5m.

The feasibility report recommended the footbridge primarily as it involves using less land, costs less to build and has a lower carbon footprint.

The footbridge option was preferred over the option of no bridge at all. This was due to the ‘significant benefits’ of connecting communities on either side of the River Bann and providing a link for the Sustrains Loughshore Trail cycle route.

In April this year, Upper Bann MLA Eoin Tennyson asked the current Minister for Infrastructure Liz Kimmins if Shared Island funding is being considered to pay for the new bridge.

"The Bannfoot pedestrian bridge is being taken forward as local Active Travel project to improve pedestrian and cycle links around Lough Neagh as part of the Lough Neagh Trail. Shared Island funding would not be required.”