The Humber Bridge just outside of Hull, UK, could become a tourist attraction after plans were unveiled to create a visitor centre with a platform offering unrivalled views of the surrounding area.

A planning application for ‘the LIFT’ – which would take visitors to the top of the bridge’s north tower – has been submitted by consultancy Barton Willmore to local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Included in the application is a glass elevator, and viewing platform at the top of the tower, with a nearby visitor centre. To gain access, visitors will take a gondola underneath the north bridge to the bottom of the north tower. Additionally the development would include a restaurant, 60-bedroom hotel and 75,000sq ft (7,000sq m) of office space as part of a wider mixed-use development scheme.

“Hull, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire are already fantastic places to visit and the LIFT gives people another reason to come here,” said Humber Bridge board chair and North Lincolnshire councillor, Rob Waltham. “Hopefully, if planning consent is achieved, we will create an attraction that further helps to put the region on the map and adds significantly to the local economy.”

If the multi-million pound plans are approved, work is expected to start later in the year, with a relatively quick turnaround as the project is scheduled to open by the end of 2017. The multi-use development will create more than 1,100 jobs, contributing an estimated £17m (US$22.6m, €20.2m) to the local economy.

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