After years of waiting, the new Walton Bridge opened to traffic in the early hours of Monday 22 July. This is the sixth Walton Bridge in this location and the foundations were laid in February 2012. An official opening ceremony was held on Thursday 11 July, attended by three Cabinet Members, Esher & Walton MP Dominic Raab, local councillors and school children from both sides of the River. The ribbon was officially cut by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin MP. Classic cars crossed the bridge and a procession of boats went underneath it to mark the official opening. A time capsule, containing children's drawings, design details, photos, coins, stamps, newspapers, shopping receipts and a story from a long term local resident, was lowered.
Amongest the Walton Councillors to attend the official opening was Walton South Borough Councillor Christine Elmer who said "I was very pleased to be asked by Surrey County Council along with other Walton Councillors to attend the celebration of the completion of the new Walton Bridge on 11 July. To have not one, but three Cabinet Ministers on our new bridge at the same time must be unprecedented, and it was a joy to see the all the children from local schools and how excited they were to be witnessing this event and be involved in the lowering of the time capsule by the Mayors of both Elmbridge and Spelthorne. Walton South welcomes the new Swan friendly bridge and congratulates Costain and SCC for bringing in the project on time and under budget."
Walton County Councillor Rachael Lake also attended the opening event. She said "Having worked so hard on getting the funding for this bridge when I was the County Councillor from 1997 to 2005, I am delighted and honoured to be at the opening as Walton's County Councillor again. We've waited a long time for this moment. But there's still more to be done, such as the removing the old bridges and further landscaping, and I look forward to it all being completed next year."
Rachael arranged for the bridge to be blessed - as is traditional for new bridges - and the Bishop of Dorking, Ian Brackley, kindly did the blessing on Friday 19 July in a short ceremony also attend by Walton's Canon Charles Stewart.