Swing Bridge Precinct Project – an update

The Great Ocean Road Coast Committee commenced works to upgrade the Swing Bridge precinct in August 2019. The works were identified as part of the Erskine River Master Plan and aim to improve the overall landscape character and user experience of the area.

Key upgrades have included additional rock beaching around the river mouth to create a continuous edge and prevent erosion, new picnic tables and timber seating, realigned angle parking, landscaping, and regrading and realignment of the pedestrian path along Otway Street.

The removal of local weed Coast Tea-tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) has allowed for the realignment of the road, car parking and pedestrian path, and the lower branches of the Cypress pines located along the Erskine River edge have been trimmed to create openings and allow further light into the precinct and increase the safety of the area.

Due to large amounts of unseasonal rain recently we couldn’t resurface the precinct until last Thursday. It has now been resurfaced with a class three crushed rock – this surface is better suited to the large amount of rain Lorne receives, with the initial dark grey colour set to lighten over time.

As we are finding that cars are using the seating area designated for pedestrian use only, we have installed large rocks to act as natural traffic bollards and will include additional signage to assist the community and visitors to better understand the traffic flow of the car park.

The picnic area was resurfaced with grit mulch last week, and we have reduced the size of the garden bed at the entry to the precinct to allow additional space for vehicles to turn.

We are working closely with the Swing Bridge Café and Boathouse to ensure the improvement of the precinct and the enjoyment of all users. All works are due to be completed by late November.

Great Ocean Road Coast Committee