Conservative finance spokesman Lyall Reed said: “If the council had managed to get the bridge constructed in time for the Rugby World Cup then this money would not have been wasted like this.
“Taxpayers’ money was spent on putting down a temporary bridge surface and then ripping it back up after just a single day of use.
“That £28,500 could have been used to fund a local park ranger for a year, instead Labour spent it on putting down a bridge surface that barely lasted longer the Rugby game itself, all to hide their lack of planning.”
Mordey said the council and the Labour group knew the fan experience would be “absolutely transformed” by the temporary opening of the crossing and accused Reed of “making ill-informed comments designed only to score cheap political points”.
“Anyone who was in and around the area on the day of the World Cup opener would agree that having Keel Crossing open created a truly brilliant and memorable fan experience for the thousands of people visiting the city,” Mordey said.
“Yes, making it happen cost money but the investment made on the temporary surface is a tiny fraction of the enormous value of this event to the city – over £20m.
“I don’t regret making that small investment for the huge benefit it brought to Sunderland and for the memories it created.”
