Plans to erect a new pedestrian bridge over Store Hill have been submitted to the Department of Planning.

The application by the Department of Parks, received this week, would reconnect a “fragmented” 3.6km stretch of the Railway Trail while providing a safer means for pedestrians to cross the street.

According to the plans, the bridge would be around 31 meters long and use the existing plinths, which would be repaired and extended in advance of the instillation as was done with a similar project in the Bailey’s Bay/ Winton Hill area of Hamilton Parish.

The documents state that the bridge is hoped to encourage more people to use the Railway Trial, noting that the pedestrian bridges in Hamilton Parish have increased use of that section of the trail tenfold.

“Not only could a bridge at Store Hill increase use of one of the key stretches of the trail, providing an off-road for office workers commuting to work or pedestrians at a blind road crossing, adding any new bridge section will be visible from the public road and, similar to Baileys Bay and Winton Hill projects, may spark interest and inspiration for greater use and further connections.”

Invasive and non-native plants would also be removed as part of the project, replaced with indigenous species.

The application is not the first proposing a bridge in the area.

A previous plan was approved by the Development Applications Board in 2002, however planning permission expired before work on the project could begin.