THE old footbridge at York’s Scarborough Bridge is set to be removed overnight on Saturday to make way for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge bridge as part of a £4million upgrade.

As part of this process Wigginton Road will be closed overnight tomorrow and early Sunday morning at the rail level crossing. The new bridge will be lifted into place by crane from the railway track in two separate phases using two further overnight lifts in the coming weeks.

Three thousand people crossed the old footbridge daily, despite access issues from steep stairs limiting the amount of people who can use it.

The new bridge is scheduled to be complete and open to the public next month and will offer step-free access with ramps as well as new external steps leading to the riverside paths.

On the southern side a new path on the top of the embankment will mean that users can travel directly between York Station and the new bridge providing a traffic-free scenic route to the city centre.

City of York Council’s executive member for transport and planning, Cllr Peter Dew, said: “We’ve made fantastic progress to replace the Scarborough Bridge footbridge. This will open up this area to many more people thanks to the easy accessibility of the new bridge.

“Unfortunately there will be some disruption whilst the old bridge is removed and the new one is craned in. This has to be done at night when there are no trains running. I would like to thank residents for their patience and understanding, and reassure them that we are working to keep this disruption to a minimum.”

The existing footbridge is 1.3 metres wide. This will be removed and a new pedestrian and cycle bridge constructed, which will be 3.7 metres wide.