Council says the bridge successfully manages a daily load of light foot traffic however is dynamically sensitive to large crowd numbers attracted by major events.

Significant crowd numbers walking across the bridge for major events creates movement that can cause instability for some pedestrians with an increased risk of slips, trips and falls.

The bridge has been used for previous major events with restricted load limitations and pedestrian management.

However, this has resulted in significant delays for event participants, which was not satisfactory for those attending the events at Glen Willow.

The alternative route, via the newly constructed Holyoake Pedestrian Bridge, is a faster walking route approximately 1km long, and it is now available for pedestrians walking into the Mudgee CBD.

For this weekend’s St George Illawarra Dragons vs Canberra Raiders NRL game, council also encourages residents to use a free shuttle bus service that will be operating throughout Mudgee CBD.

Services will pick up and return from Mudgee Tourist Office in Market Street, Mudgee High School in Perry Street (Victoria Park side of the road), St Matthew’s Catholic School in Lewis Street and Mudgee Race Course, Ulan Road from 11am.

Services will depart Glen Willow to CBD at the completion of the match. A low-floor bus will be available for patrons requiring assistance.

The Cudgegong River Suspension Bridge will be closed from 10am until 8pm, Sunday, May 20.

At February’s Charity Shield match council allowed people to cross at the suspension footbridge across the river two-abreast with a small gap in between.

This was because people found the movement uncomfortable during previous major events. This did cause delays, which council attributed to the crowd being larger at the Charity Shield.