The Evening Standard has reported on a recent meeting of a taskforce aimed at getting the Bridge open to motor vehicles. The meeting, shrouded in secrecy, apparently took place on 31 January 2025. The group had held its last meeting more than three years ago. It has now been reconvened by the Minister for Local Tansport.
The 138-year-old bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic since April 2019, when cracks appeared in the structure’s pedestals. Only pedestrians, and cyclists who dismount from their bikes, are currently able to use its walkways. Since the meeting there have been reports of queues of half an hour to cross the Bridge.
There was previously a proposed that the Department for Transport would pay a third of the total cost of repairs, Transport for London (TfL) paying another third with the other third paid for by Hammersmith and Fulham, which owns the bridge. Not surprisingly the authority said it would only be able to raise that amount of money via a road user charge or toll.
It is understood that any new commitments of Government funding for the project will only be made as part of the Chancellor’s comprehensive spending review, which is expected to be set out in June of this year. A DfT spokeswoman said: “We have inherited a challenging situation with Hammersmith Bridge, where decisions about its future have been ducked for many years. We recognise the frustration its continued closure is causing motorists.”
This blot on the London landscape has remained for far too long. It may be facile to comment that in many other countries around the world such an important strategic transport connection would have been repaired or replaced in a year os so. Sadly it is true. Regrettably it is typical of the silo thinking between diffferent interests which blights this country’s development. It’s all taxpayers’ money. The nettle should be grasped.
