A FURTHER update has been provided on repairs to Chester's historic Grosvenor Bridge.

The bridge was damaged twice in 2022, just over six months apart, and at nearly the exact same spot.

A road traffic collision happened in March, shortly after a 20mph speed limit on Grosvenor Road reverted to 30mph.

Structural repairs took place over three nights and the bridge was then reopened.

But on October 12, 2022, a man driving a BMW hit the bridge, causing more significant damage.

Since then, temporary scaffolding has been in place on the bridge, with residents advised to use the pavement on the other wide of the road when walking over the River Dee.

A new pedestrian island was last week installed by the footbridge over the Dingle, near a pedestrian entrance to Overleigh Cemetery. New 20mph road markings have been put on the road, but without corresponding 20mph road signage.

Late last year, Cheshire West and Chester Council gave an update on the repairs, explaining: "The council’s bridges team is currently working with heritage specialists and highway engineers to work up a solution to strengthen the bridge and address any safety issues."

No timescale had been put in place. 

Now Cheshire West and Chester Council has given a further update, detailing the extent of the repairs required.

A spokesperson said: "The parapet was hit twice last year in the space of six months. Our heritage contractors have carried out a risk-based assessment and, from this, the decision has been taken to strengthen the parapet at the location of the impact.

"As the structure is listed, the parapet strengthening will need to be carried out in a very sympathetic way so that it isn’t visible, most likely involving steel dowels within the masonry blocks themselves.

"We'll be engaging a consultant to carry out this design work once a new Highways maintenance contract starts on April 1 and the construction will follow on from that."