WINDHOEK- The Windhoek City Council has approved the construction of a pedestrian bridge at a cost of N$1,9 million near the Dawid Bezuidenhout High School in Khomasdal.

The bridge, spanning 145 meters, will be constructed over the Arebbusch River and will link Andrew Kloppers Street with Dawid Bezuidenhout Road. The council says the bridge will be named the 'Magdalena Stoffels Bridge' after the 17-year-old learner who was murdered in a riverbed near Dawid Bezuidenhout High School in July last year. Pedestrians, and especially learners, it says, experience difficulties when trying to cross the Arebbusch River in this area and this is made worse in the rainy season.

Another reason provided as motivation for the decision is the fact that Woermann and Brock Hyper, which is situated opposite Dawid Bezuidenhout High School, is a major node for attracting pedestrians. It was also recommended that the strategic executive for transportation identify further locations for pedestrian bridges over rivers and submit these to the management committee for consideration, to be budgeted for and implemented during the next phases. Here emphasis was placed on Pelican Street, Nelson Mandela Avenue, Clemence Kapuuo Street and Salt Spring Street.

During the 2010/11 financial year, N$ 2 million were allocated for the provision of river crossings or bridge for pedestrians. No sites were however identified where such bridges could be constructed. (NAMPA)