Further £1m for Barnsley’s Market Gate Bridge as project cost spirals

The new bridge to replace the Jumble Lane Crossing opened in December, following delays due to electrical problems.

Although the bridge was initially set to cost £5m, the cost has now increased to £13m, after Barnsley Council applied for a further £1m from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

A report to the SYMCA, which approved the funding this week states that the project has experienced a ‘number of changes to the specification and construction,’ including changes to drainage, landscaping, levelling, and vehicle and pedestrian incursion methods.

Part of the funding will also pay for extra professional fees and the temporary bridge and football traffic management.

The report adds: “Without additional resource, the project cannot proceed as planned.

“This report proposes that £1m be allocated from recycled Local Growth Fund allocated to Barnsley-based activity. Additional funding at this level does not materially affect the benefit-cost ratio, with the scheme continuing to represent value for money.

“Due to extensive delays caused by the main contractor going into administration and diversion of uncharted gas mains, the scheme encountered increased costs and additional works.”

The bridge was due to be completed in late summer 2023, and is not yet fully open, although pedestrians can access the bridge.

The council say the bridge will be fully open, including the lifts, ‘as soon as possible’, and a phased opening began on Friday 22 December 2023.

A council spokesperson said that the bridge is immediately open to pedestrians 24 hours a day and that there are cosmetic works still to complete, including some of the cladding to the structure. The lifts are expected to open in the new year.

Where has the money for the project come from?

The initial £5m funding was to be split 50/50 between BMBC and Network Rail, which wanted to close the original level crossing on health and safety grounds.

In October 2018, the cost had risen to £5.6m, which council leader Sir Steve Houghton said was due to the bridge having to be “realigned” at a different angle.

Almost £7m of the cost is from external investment, with Network Rail contributing £2m.

Barnsley Council provided £2.9m, as part of its town centre regeneration scheme.

SYMCA gave the council £2.5m in March 2023, and a further £1m this week.

The authority said in March that £1.9m ‘is being covered by the promoter’

Why has the bridge been so delayed?

Network Rail first approached the council to discuss closing the existing Jumble Lane crossing in 2013, and plans for the new bridge were unveiled in January 2018.

The council say that the selected contractor, NMCN, fell into administration within days of the contract being signed, and the transfer of the contract has been “complex”.

The project has also been plagued by increases in steel and other material costs since the bridge was first designed. The scheme now includes further public realm, landscaping and highway improvements at both ends of the bridge.