Belfast City Council has moved a step closer to delivering a new landmark for the city's skyline after appointing an expert design team to develop a high-quality, moveable active travel bridge across the River Lagan.

The Sailortown Bridge is intended to create a vibrant link between the historic Sailortown district and the Titanic Quarter. Funded by the Department for Infrastructure, the project will see global consulting engineer Arup and leading bridge designer Knight Architects collaborate with Eadon Consulting and Cumming Group to produce feasibility and concept designs by next year.

The bridge is a central part of the Belfast Waterfront Framework, designed to encourage more people to walk, wheel, and cycle while better connecting neighbourhood communities with key education, leisure, and tourism destinations. The new bridge will be situated downstream of the existing Lagan Weir bridge. By creating an opening span, it will allow for continued river navigation while extending the city's uninterrupted active travel corridor. It will also provide a much-needed direct link for those using the recently upgraded York Street train station to access the Harbour Loop.

Councillor Ian McLaughlin, Chair of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, welcomed the progress: "Sailortown Bridge will help us achieve the vision of a better connected, more vibrant and more attractive corridor. I'm confident that the resulting design concepts will be iconic, and that the bridge will encourage more people to walk, wheel and cycle to the many key destinations around the Harbour Loop."

Héctor Beade, Design Director at Knight Architects, added: "The area's shipbuilding history, unique waterfront setting, and river navigation requirements all combine to make this a very exciting project. We are looking forward to getting started on this transformational scheme for the people of Belfast."

Mike Mitchell, Project Director at Arup, noted the infrastructure benefits: "We are proud to be involved in a project that promises to make a pivotal contribution to Belfast's active travel infrastructure. Connecting Sailortown with the Titanic Quarter will extend the active travel corridor from the Lagan Gateway and provide stronger links to York Street train station."