A “vital” footbridge on the Thames Path between Marlow and Hurley could reopen next autumn after a £720,000 government-funded repairs project.

Temple Bridge, just upstream of Temple Lock, was closed by the Environment Agency last May after its deteriorated structure was deemed unsafe for pedestrians.

Pressure on the agency to provide a timeline for the repair or replacement of the structure grew this year after Bisham Parish Council sounded alarm over a “dangerous” alternative route via Marlow and Bisham Road following reports of people being “clipped by car wing mirrors” on the 60-mph stretch.

And new findings from a Freedom of Information request have shed light on the options being weighed up by the EA – and showed a progression of repair plans totalling £720,000, with an estimated 12-month works schedule.

The information, uncovered by resident Adrian Hitchins, shows that the repair option would be substantially cheaper than the costs of a full replacement – landing somewhere between £2,555,000 and £8,600,000 – but would only add 10 years to the bridge’s lifespan, while the replacement would stand for an estimated 30 years.

Consultation documents from 2023 also revealed that no structural assessments of the walkway had been taken since it was built in 1989, despite such inspections usually being undertaken every 18 years for public structures.

When Temple Bridge was deemed beyond the pale early last year, it had already been subject to several ad-hoc replacement works including of decking with softwood and synthetic boards, posing, among other things, a trip hazard, according to the FOI results.

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Investigations of the bridge taken this month focused on gauging the viability of the wooden bridge’s central section – which Marlow local Steve Tilbury, who passed the bridge as it was being closed last year, said had “completely fallen away”, leaving a “sizeable hole” in the middle.

The EA previously said funding for the necessary work could be a hurdle amid “competing projects in our capital works programme", with the new documents showing that projected costs would be submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

It is thought ambiguous “partnership funding” could also be used to “prioritise” the bridge in the agency’s agenda.

Temple Bridge was built in 1989 as part of the Thames Path following a campaign by Maidenhead resident Margaret Bowdery who, after her death in 2016, was remembered by the Open Spaces Society as a “redoubtable” figure who “saved countless walkers from death or injury by securing safer routes”.

An earlier version of this article stated that repairs would cost £72,000. It was an error and has been rectified.