Petition for new Glasgow bridge to be named after Big Yin

A petition calling for a new footbridge being built between Govan and Partick to be named after Sir Billy Connolly has been started on Change.org.

The planned pedestrian and cycle crossing would connect Water Row in Govan and Pointhouse Quay in Partick at the Transport Museum.

Andrew Kane, who started the petition, wrote: "In November 2021, Glasgow City Council awarded a contract to build a new footbridge between Pointhouse Quay in Partick and Water Row in Govan. The bridge is due to be completed by 2023.

"With his formative years spent in Stewartville Street and at St Peter's Primary north of the river before attending St Gerard's Secondary (commuting from Drumchapel no less) and becoming an apprentice at Alexander Stephens south of the river, there can surely be no more fitting name than entitling this bridge after the legendary Sir Billy Connolly.

"With the Big Yin suffering from Parkinson's Disease, such a tribute within his lifetime linking two areas of the city so indelibly connected with one of Glasgow's (and Scotland's) most beloved sons would be no more than the great figure deserves."

The bridge is part of the Glasgow City Region City Deal, where the Scottish Government and the UK Government have provided £500m each for infrastructure projects.

Work on the bridge is expected to start in January and be completed towards the end of 2023.

The £29.5m includes the operation and maintenance costs of the bridge for two years and the upkeep of bridge lighting for a period of five years.

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