Access over Lucy’s Mill Bridge is Limited.

The only access to the current bridge is by way of steep, narrow steps at either end which regularly cause potentially dangerous conflicts when users travelling in opposite directions attempt to pass each other on the steps. In addition, both the bridge width and parapet height are sub-standard. [clearboth]

When a survey of users was carried out in 2009 over a two-day period it showed that 1,128 people crossed the bridge between 8.00am and 7.30pm on the Saturday, while a further 525 crossed it between 8.00am and 4.30pm on the following Wednesday. Users included pedestrians (including parents with children in pushchairs), dog walkers with dogs on leads, cyclists carrying bicycles, and fishermen carrying rods and equipment. Several photographs of dangerous crossing incidents were recorded. [clearboth]

The two-day survey showed that:

• 258 bicycles were carried up and down the bridge’s steps;
• 49 baby pushchairs and prams were lifted over the bridge;
• 8 wheelchairs were lifted across the bridge;
• 31 people using walking sticks, or other mobility aids, had to negotiate the steps to cross the bridge.

A total of 927 people surveyed (out of an overall total of 1,653) stopped to sign a petition asking for the bridge to be replaced or improved.

Excluded from the survey were the many people, including those with disabilities, who are prevented from using the bridge due to the steps.

Finally, in 2008, there was a Town Poll in Stratford-upon-Avon in which 84.7% of those who voted supported the improvement, or replacement of Lucy’s Mill Bridge.