00:01We're going to walk!
00:04Bridging the Gap with a community celebration.
00:08It's really good to be here and be first across the bridge, it's terrific.
00:12I had to dress down a little bit, I didn't want to be upstaging the bridge.
00:16Adding to what is a distinctive character filled port landscape,
00:20a bridge that is a first of a kind in terms of being an extra dose bridge.
00:24It replaces the old Fremantle traffic bridge which opened in 1939.
00:29Gladys Arundel was there as a 14 year old.
00:32It was very exciting and also we'd been told about it all at school.
00:38So we had a great time and I was very thrilled to be repeating history again and here I am
00:45today.
00:45Memories for new generations too.
00:48It's just an insane to walk across the first opening of this bridge.
00:51Yeah, it looks cooler than I expected.
00:54Bloody amazing.
00:55There's been a constant stream of people crossing the bridge for the historic opening,
00:59nine months after the old Frio bridge closed.
01:05A relief for residents and businesses who grappled with traffic congestion.
01:11We survived.
01:12You made it through.
01:14Yeah, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
01:16The original $230 million price tag ballooned to almost $600 million,
01:22following community pressure and major redesigns.
01:25The version before the final version, let's say, had a complete reconfiguration of all the roads.
01:30That would have disrupted traffic for years.
01:33The new bridge has wider traffic lanes and pedestrian and cycle paths and, crucially for boat clearance,
01:39it's two metres higher, with some parts of the old bridge retained.
01:43Attention now turns to fixing minor structural issues on the adjoining railway bridge.
