Only a few miles from the sea, the River Bann is quite wide at Coleraine. Until the 1970s the only road bridge was the Bann Bridge (or Town Bridge) which was built in the late 1800s. As the town expanded rapidly in the 1970s the need for a new transport management system became apparent. The solution was the A29 Coleraine Ring Road which (although not a proper "ring") runs from the north round the east and south of the town to the south west. According to Roads Service, the Ring Road opened in 1976 and the bridge itself in 1975.

Most of the road was built as single-carriageway, but the section between Strand Road and Lodge Road, which crosses the River Bann, is dual-carriageway. This section also passes beneath the Mount Sandel Road before making the leap across the river via the Sandelford Bridge. When opened, the Sandelford Bridge immediately helped ease the congestion at the old bridge. A short section to the west of Strand Road roundabout is also dual-carriageway.

The Department for Regional Development has long term plans to convert the Coleraine Ring Road between Lodge Road and Ballycastle roundabout to dual-carriageway and to build flyovers at Lodge Road (Draft Northern Area Plan, May 2005). However, there is no firm date for these works which were likely to be at least ten years away at the time of writing (2005).

According to this parliamentary written answer, 13,920 vehicles used the bridge eastbound per day in

2007, suggesting daily traffic of somewhere between 26,000 and 30,000 veicles.

Photos

Sandelford Bridge as seen looking west from the Mount Sandel Road overbridge in summer 2006. [Photo by Aubrey Dale]

Looking east towards Lodge Road from the same location as above in summer 2006. The carriageways diverge as they approach the roundabout - a sure sign that future grade separation at Lodge Road was on the cards right at the design stage. [Photo by Aubrey Dale]