Huon will close the current Cotter Road crossing arrangements the weekend of 23 September.
They propose to move weekday horse riders back to the underpass full time from Tuesday (26 September). The underpass be open and clear of workers on the weekend but there will have to be special arrangements during working hours during the week.
There will be a lot of very noisy work (with jack hammers) during the construction of the new bridge as well as laying the big girders as they did for the other bridge.
Huon’s proposal is to install a warning system for workers on the bridge which will signal to them to stop work while horse riders pass through the underpass. The warning signal would be a button you would press to activate a flashing light and a short alarm on the bridge work. These buttons would be placed in Equestrian Park near the arenas and on the other side of the underpass well back from the works and the orange cycle bridge, about where the existing horse trail turns west to travel around Curtin.
The usefulness of this proposed weekday system will be entirely dependent on riders wanting to use it and the construction workers obeying the signal. Huon will set up a demonstration to see if this will work but feedback from local riders about their thoughts on whether they feel safe using such a system is essential.
Huon believe they will be finished all the noisy works on the bridge by November.