The final recognisable remnants of the Churchill Flyover were removed from the city centre today leaving some city buildings unobscured by the flyovers for the first time in decades.
The ramped entrances to the footbridges that once went under the main flyovers lifted out of place by cranes close to Central Library this morning in one of the final steps before work begins to consider how to redevelop the area around the flyovers.
The much more prominent road-carrying sections of the flyovers were removed towards the end of last year after structural surveys found they were unsafe.
Photos taken this morning show pieces of the footbridge being lifted out of place by cranes before being taken away.
The council is now considering how the vast area where the flyovers used to sit, near landmarks like the Walker Art Gallery and Central Library, can be used in the future.
Surveys last spring found major flaws in the construction of the flyovers meant they could not safely support anything on top of their own weight, with mayor Joe Anderson saying they had to be removed.
Mayor Anderson said: "The Churchill Way flyovers are a relic of a cancelled highways plan from half a century ago and given the overwhelming weight of evidence from independent experts about their safety, their removal was the only viable option."
Council cabinet member for highways Sharon Connor has previously said the removal of the flyovers is one of the most complex engineering projects in the city's history because of the buildings and roads lying in close proximity to the flyovers.
