Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Pedestrian safety while crossing the River Wharfe is a top priority for Leeds City Council.

The cantilever footway which is attached to the side of Otley Bridge is coming to the end of its usable life and needs replacing, a number of patch repairs have already been done.

The replacement of the footway and associated works will take eight months to complete, weather permitting. During the works the current footway will have to be closed, so there will need to be an alternative crossing for pedestrians.

The proposal is to therefore build a temporary footbridge 50 metres east of Otley Bridge, to keep disruption to a minimum.

The construction of a temporary footbridge is not a simple task, and specialist engineers have been working to find a solution which would cause the least disruption since September 2023.

The Wharfe is recognised to be the most volatile river in Europe, prone to very fast changes in water levels. Conventional methods of construction for this bridge cannot be used, due to a number of constraints. For example, heavy equipment cannot get to the north bank due to the strength of the river embankment. A barge in the river is also not a viable option due to Otley bridge to the east and the weir to the west.

Given the constraints of the project, a temporary footbridge will need to be constructed from one side of the river only. This will require the use of a 350-tonne crane, which is not a small piece of equipment, and sadly requires the loss of a small number of trees.

A number of other suggestions and questions have come forward, and the FAQs are here to further explain how we have reached this point.