Plans for 65-metre-high cycle bridge in Copenhagen put aside

Plans for a 65-metre-high cycle path and walkway suspended between two skyscrapers in Copenhagen may have been put aside.

The architectural drawing for the Copenhagen Gateway. Image by Steven Holl Architecture

Despite media reports over the last week that the Copenhagen Gate project would finally move ahead, The Guardian has reported that the plans have been scrapped. However, the Local Denmark has reported  that the bridge will go ahead, but will not be open to public access.

The project was originally approved in 2008, but was put on hold due to the financial crisis. It was recently said work on the project would begin by 2017, but those reports may have been premature.

With plans to build the two skyscrapers, the bridge was considered necessary due to planning laws that require workplaces be no more than 500m from a rail station, reports the Guardian. The height was due to the need to allow cruise ships to pass under.

The bridge seemed a bit impractical as people would have to access an elevator on either side in order to actually use it, and even cyclists said that riding a bike around the harbour would take less time than riding an elevator up to the bridge.

Ultimately, concerns over the safety of a public bridge so high were also a factor in derailing the project.

Danes are no strangers to odd bridges. The Circle Bridge in Copenhagen spans a gap in the harbour with a series of connected circles.

The Oresund Bridge connects Copenhagen with Malmo in Sweden and is the longest combined rail and road bridge in Europe.