THE cost of the new footbridge which will be built over Jumble Lane crossing has gone up by £600,000.
It was initially thought the Market Gate Bridge would cost £5m, with Network Rail contributing £2m towards that cost.
But council papers show the cost has gone up to £5.6m - an increase of 12 per cent.
An engineering problem with the angle of the bridge has meant the cost of the project has increased.
Council leader Sir Steve Houghton said: "The costs have gone up because the bridge has had to be realigned across the junction in a different way to what we first anticipated.
“It’s still going to be the same bridge, but we’ve had to change the angle of it and the points at which it crosses the crossing, the space it leaves for trains, etc."
The new bridge will act as a ‘gateway’ into the town centre, taking people from the Market Gate car park into the heart of the new town centre scheme, meaning the level crossing will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians for good.
