26/01/2024
Ian is on the money.
Comment on the Development Application for the replacement for the Fremantle Traffic Bridge closes 1st February.
In my view, this proposal ticks a lot of the community boxes, with the significant exception of retention of any part of the existing traffic bridge. However, the history/heritage of the site is more than just that one artefact and I have suggested a way of recording and acknowledging that.
My comments on the DA (submitted today) are below.
The current proposal takes advantage of innovative bridge construction techniques to come very close to what the community has consistently said it wanted - like-for-like replacement of the existing traffic bridge. The main omission in this respect is any retention of any part of the existing traffic bridge.
The latest design, unlike previous ones, does contain distinctive elements (esp above the deck) which the community had sought as a distinctive 'entry statement' for Fremantle.
I have a few outstanding concerns.
First, whilst the innovative construction method substantially reduces the period of time for which there will be no active river crossing for motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians at this point, there is no clear indication of how the river crossing demands will be accommodated while the bridge is closed. Project consultations have been told that the remaining road system (esp Stirling Bridge) would be unable to cope with such closure.
Would it be possible, for example, to construct the cycle/pedestrian paths on one or both sides at the same time as the main lateral support structures so that these could be operational at the time the existing traffic bridge is closed and demolished?
Second, in the absence of any retention of the existing traffic bridge, the heritage/history of river crossings at this point will largely disappear. There is, however, a model (made in 1933) of the previous Bridge of Sticks, currently in the WA Maritime Museum. I suggest that a similar model be commissioned (or perhaps a competition held) for the existing traffic bridge and other previous crossings (to the same scale) to provide, in conjunction with historical display material previously produced as part of the project consultations, an historical record of the significance of the site.
Third, the artist's impressions do not clearly show river level access across Queen Victoria Street under the proposed bridge (and, ultimately, the rail bridge) on the northern side. This is important both for the longer-term, when this would be an important link between parts of North Fremantle and the redevelopment of North Quay when the container trades move to Kwinana, and to provide continuity of access across Queen Victoria Street during construction of the new bridge and its approaches.
