Pedestrians cross the University of Otago's St David St
footbridge. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
One of the University of Otago's most hotly opposed
proposals of recent times has not been revived in the campus
master plan.
The century-old pedestrian footbridge across the Water of
Leith at St David St will stay, and there are no plans to
either replace it with a traffic bridge or build a traffic
bridge alongside.
Staff and consultants working on the master plan noted a
traffic bridge would provide "a significantly more direct and
appropriate form of access to the eastern bank of the Leith
and the university's historic core", the plan said.
However, "given the seeming lack of appetite for change on
the issue", no replacement bridge proposal was included in
the final document.
The university has sought for years to have a traffic bridge
at St David St to create a new campus main entry point off
Cumberland St.
It tried in 1997 and 2003 to push the million-dollar project
forward, offering first to donate the Historic Places
Trust-listed footbridge to the Dunedin City Council, then
deciding to move it 5m upstream from its present location.
Resource consent was granted in early 2004, but in August
that year, facing an appeal to the Environment Court and
vehement opposition from many quarters, the university
ditched the plan.
Vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg said at the time there
was no possibility the bridge would be built "in the
foreseeable future".
allison.rudd@odt.co.nz
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