A SERIOUS investigation into the feasibility of building a 1.5 billion euro bridge or tunnel link to France could take place next year.
This week Environment Minister Freddie Cohen met international engineer Peter Lundhus, whose company Partner Sund Baelt managed the construction of a road and rail bridge that links Danish capital Copenhagen with Swedish city Malmo.
The firm is also about to start work on a new bridge between Denmark and Germany. A deal between the two governments was signed last month for the project to go ahead. Senator Cohen said that it would probably be worth carrying out a ‘broad, dirty feasibility assessment’ of the potential benefits and costs of a link between the Island and France.
‘I have seen the bridge that links Denmark and Sweden and it has fundamentally changed the economy,’ he said. ‘Jersey would have to work out if a bridge or tunnel link would be beneficial or affordable. Certainly from an economic perspective it could offer significant benefits, as we could grow the economy without increasing the population.’
