A cycling and walking route into Bradford started to take shape over the weekend as engineers lifted parts of a bridge into place.

Manchester Road had to be closed as workers put into place five sections of the bridge, which is to form an “important gateway” to the city and link up the greenway routes to the University and St Luke’s Hospital, as well as connecting East and West Bowling with Marshfields and Little Horton.

Bradford Council has worked with Sustrans on the project, which is being paid for by the Big Lottery Fund after the charity secured £50 million in a vote.

Senior engineer James Williamson said he hoped the bridge would be fully in place by Sunday (May 20) although it would not be open to the for a few a weeks after that.

Mr Williams said: “We were looking at September for a completion date and I would say we are looking at early summer time now, so things are going well.”

The bridge will be made of more than 350 tonnes of steel and will be 210 metres long with two main spans over Manchester Road of 22 metres and 24 metres. The funding – Living Land-marks: The People’s Millions grant – was awarded after a vote on ITV1 in December 2007.