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Coronavirus delays £22m Hull footbridge completion

Highways England Artist impression of the footbridgeHighways England
The footbridge will connect Hull city centre with the Marina

The completion of a £22m footbridge has been delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The A63 Castle Street crossing in Hull was due to open in May. However, Highways England has said it will now be in the summer.

Granite ordered for the bridge has been delayed following the closure of the quarries in China in response to the outbreak, the agency said.

The stone will now be sourced from mines in Portugal.

James Leeming, from Highways England, said the decision to switch sources was made after talking to suppliers.

"If that's an issue in China, we need to find an alternative way to get material here from Europe and that's what we have managed to do," he said.

"I think we've done the right thing."

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The 197ft (60m)-long structure links the city centre with the marina and spans one of Hull's busiest roads.

A poll is being held to come up with a name for the bridge.

School students came up with a shortlist of five people, including the city's former MP William Wilberforce who campaigned to abolish the slave trade in the 19th Century and Dr Mary Murdoch who was Hull's first female GP.

The public can vote online until 23 March.

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