The £14m active travel bridge built over the Forth & Clyde Canal in North Glasgow, will be celebrated on Saturday 03 December, as the bridge connects three communities, Ruchill, Maryhill and Gilshochill, for the first time in 232 years.
The new connection will also provide a near continuous off-road link for travellers between Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond. Residents and active travellers will take to the canals towpath to mark the moment the new destination is officially opened.
The event will see people arrive by bike, boot and boat to the stunning steel structure where for the first time the Stockingfield Spire will be lit up into the night. A procession will take place from four areas around the active travel bridge representing the joining of communities for the first time since the canal was opened in 1790.
The procession led by Glasgow-based art group, Carnival Arts, will see a light show like never before with lanterns being made by the community that highlight the fauna and flora of the Forth & Clyde Canal and their communities. In addition, lanterns will be fitted to standard and non-standard bikes to showcase the accessibility of the bridge.
Scottish Canals, Chief Operating Officer, Richard Millar said: "14 years after we first developed the concept with the local community, we are delighted to be able to open this amazing new bridge to the public. Not only will it transform the active travel routes to the city centre and the West End for both local people and users of the national cycle network it has also helped to create place transforming vacant and derelict land into an attractive parkland full of community spirit through the numerous artworks, creating a destination and a place of deep community ownership and pride".
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Community engagement has been at the heart of the project with locals shaping the structures surroundings through artwork. In total 9 pieces are being installed on site from a 121-metre mythical serpent called a Beithir in Gaelic folklore, to interpretation boards exploring the area's past and present.
Sustrans Scotland Director, Karen McGregor said: "Stockingfield Bridge is a remarkable achievement for all those involved, none more so than the local communities that helped make it a reality and who will feel the real benefits of it.
"We are excited to see this truly iconic structure opening to the public for the very first time and are confident it will secure status as a beacon of accessible active travel on the Glasgow skyline for years to come."
The stunning steel structure which now shapes North Glasgow's skyline is a feat of engineering which has turned heads around the globe. Engineers working on the project had to maintain navigation on the canal which has the same heritage status of the likes of Edinburgh Castle. This was not the only challenge as over 400 tonnes of Ukrainian steel had to be brought to North Glasgow from Leeds in 17 separate pieces.
Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "The rebirth of Glasgow's Canal in recent years has been instrumental in the ongoing and long overdue transformation of the north of the city. It is Glasgow's other waterfront, making nature more accessible to tens of thousands of nearby residents, improving health and well-being and the look and feel of communities. The opening of Stockingfield Bridge is a milestone in that journey, a new landmark for North Glasgow."
The national infrastructure project and associated artworks have been funded by Transport Scotland trhough Sustrans Places for Everyone programme, Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council's Vacant Derelict Land Fund and SCAPE.
Anyone wanting to get involved in the procession are encouraged to follow Scottish Canals on social media where a full route map and details of how to get involved can be found.
