A rendering of the bridge over the Waipoua River. PHOTO/SUPPLIED.

Construction of a new bridge over the Waipoua River will begin this week, providing pedestrian and cycle access to the Oxford St reserve from the south side of the river.

Masterton District Council [MDC] approved the construction of the bridge at a meeting in August 2020 and granted the project a budget of $485,000.

The bridge had an estimated construction time of four to five weeks.

The bridge would be lined with 50 pou commissioned by six local Maori artists who would tell stories representing the past, present and future of the Waipoua River.

Corin Haines, the council’s community facilities and activities manager, said an average of 1,500 people a month use the Akura Rd trail on the south side of the river and the design of the bridge aims to maximize accessibility, with ramps at each end and a capacity of 100 people. .

“Walkers and cyclists will start to notice preparations for the start of work, and there will be fenced areas during construction which we will ask people to respect.

“The bridge will really add to our network of recreational trails, and there are plans in due course to extend the trail on the north side of the river from the Colin Pugh Sports Bowl to the reserve at Oxford St.”

MDC said there may be restricted or limited access to the Bentley St and Oxford St worksites during construction and asked people to be patient while the work is carried out.