Two new pedestrian bridges could soon be built in the Central Governorate if councillors can come up with around BD1 million ($2.65 million).

The bridges are planned to link Ma'meer and Nuwaidrat on Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sobah Highway, while the second would link the restaurants area in Sanad (Al Abraaj and Yum Yum Tree).

The Central Municipal Council is now looking for sponsors in the hope that the two would be complete by the end of next year.

Council chairman Abdulrahman Al Hassan revealed the plans at an official opening of a pedestrian bridge, linking Isa Town homes with the Al Estiqlal Walkway.

The BD300,000 160-metre bridge was built on the Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Ministry expense.

The bridge is the first in the country to have elevators on both sides, as the council instructed officials to take into consideration the elderly and the disabled.

'We had to have a pedestrian bridge because a lot of people were crossing Al Estiqlal Highway from Isa Town just to come to the walkway,' said Al Hassan.

'There were several accidents, in which pedestrians were hurt or cars swerving in order to avoid hitting them, including two fatalities.

'We had to look for solutions and the bridge's idea came to existence, but there was no budget to support it.

'After three years of waiting, we managed to get a budget allocated to it.'

He said that the council monitored work on the bridge throughout the construction process to ensure that it fulfils all of the people's requirements.

'The bridge's budget was BD250,000, but we increased it with another BD50,000, as two elevators had to be installed to ensure that the elderly and disabled are able to come to use it,' said Al Hassan.

He said that there were plans for two more bridges planned, but there was no budget.

'There were plans to have a bridge linking Ma'ameer and Nuwaidrat and a sponsor was found by the Works Ministry, but the project was cancelled,' he said.

'Banagas agreed to handle the costs, but their BD120,000 was not enough, that a Japanese company that was hired to do the job refused to accept.

'Now we are looking for other sponsors for this bridge and another one to link the restaurants area in Sanad.'

He said that hopefully the restaurants would sponsor the bridge.

'Any sponsor would have advertisement put up on the bridge, so it is like paying for a promotional ad while at the same time serving the people.'-TradeArabia News Service