Forum Topic

Hammersmith Br

An alternative solution. Not quite sure which group has produced this but might be a better option than arguing about funding for another decade?http://www.hammersmithbridge.solutions/

Michael Ixer ● 770d25 Comments

".. emergency ambulance and fire services are and can cope without a vehicle crossing at Hammersmith Bridge"I guess it depends on the definition of cope and at what cost?The NHS coped with Covid some would say!Reports said London Fire Brigade could cope before Grenfell too, when costs were cut.

Ed Robinson ● 768d

I have no doubt they have to cope.  Difficult to see how easy it is for them to take someone in an emergency from Barnes to Charing Cross.  Unless, of course, from Barnes they probably go to Kingston?

Ivonne Holliday ● 768d

I like the idea of being able to catch a tram to cross the bridge.  It just needs to join up with other services.  There are Santander bikes near to where Richard Rogers Partnership used to have their office.

Philippa Bond ● 768d

Interesting: reading the FAQs the emergency ambulance and fire services are and can cope without a vehicle crossing at Hammersmith Bridge.

Michael Ixer ● 768d

It will be fun and games - not!!!Wandsworth Bridge will have lane closures from 15 May to 22 July and then complete closure from 23 July 2023 for 10 weeks, which means till the end of September 2023.....It means summer holiday time from 23 July until 4 September but then.....  Pffff!

Ivonne Holliday ● 768d

Now Wandsworth Bridge Closure. Front page of forum. Lee Roberts.

Barbara Stevens ● 768d

Go back to bed if I was you.

Barbara Stevens ● 768d

No Hammersmith Bridge?  It was still there yesterday and I've walked over it recently and seen it looking busy with both people and cyclists.  Isn't it still just closed to motor vehicles?

Philippa Bond ● 768d

There isn't a BRIDGE. Yes could we all learn how to fly, or be catapulted across the bridge. It is bad.

Barbara Stevens ● 769d

You won't ever get anything changed unless you actually do something about it - that is of course if you actually do want to go somewhere in particular - and aren't just having a whinge about something that has changed/you don't like just for the sake of it. Ideally get a group together and contact your Councillors and your MP if and when you have some good and practical suggestions.  Don't make everything sound worse than it is.

Philippa Bond ● 769d

I said don't answer my posts Philippa. Lets jump on 50 buses just to please you,utter crap.

Barbara Stevens ● 769d

Thank you for the post, Michael.It seems to me to be quite similar to the famous garden bridge. It looks idyllic and in the middle of the English countryside.

Ivonne Holliday ● 769d

TfL have an absolutely amazing number of different fares, deals and offers.  There are also special ones if your car is accepted for their scrappage schemes so that people are encouraged to use alternative types of travel. The Hopper fare is a very popular one and there is a cap on the amount you pay in fares per day on an Oyster so that you don't pay single full fare each time and can mix and match buses and tubes. 

Philippa Bond ● 769d

it sounds like a very selfish idea to me, it simply moves most of the traffic to Putney.

Adam Tripp ● 769d

So if your near White Hart Lane, if you go to Sheen station your going the other way, if you go to Barnes Station you have to walk over the common. So otherwise you have to get a bus to Putney walk down the High Street to get a 220 bus to Fulham Palace Road, then get off and get another bus to Kensington. 3 fares instead of 1.

Barbara Stevens ● 769d

I suspect a train from Sheen to CLJ, then another to Olympia is probably as fast as a bus in London west traffic? Certainly works without a bridge crossing at Hammersmith :-)

Michael Ixer ● 769d

What if you live in Sheen and want to get to Olympia, or Kensington. A bus from Sheen used to go all the way, especially if you work in Kensington.

Barbara Stevens ● 769d

"Without motor traffic, Hammersmith bridge can serve as an iconic real-world example"On the same page they go from no private vehicles to no motor vehicles. That means no buses, no ambulances, no fire engines and no police.The only thing that has evaporated is taxpayers money on imaginary ferries and heating/cooling a bridge when people cannot afford their heating bills.Until there is transparency by the local authorities & TFL the bridge voyeurs will continue to waste money and pass on even more debt to the next generation.

Ed Robinson ● 770d

Thanks,  Richard. They seem to have some interesting partners and funding sources. The Hammersmith Bridge solution looks innovative. There's still the question of ambulance access but given the nearest A&E centre is probably Charing Cross Hospital on Fulham Palace Road then Hammersmith Bridge access probably isn't a major?

Michael Ixer ● 770d

Precisely, results from Hammersmith and Fulham Council records show that half of the traffic that used to cross Hammersmith Bridge has now evaporated, that is, those journeys do not now happen.

Richard Carter ● 770d

I thought the statistics showed that a lot of the traffic had dissipated away? 

Michael Ixer ● 770d

Dear little Richard send them all over Putney Bridge, Fumes Fumes fumes.

Barbara Stevens ● 770d

Fully agree.

Matt Palmer ● 770d

All very nice for the rich folks that live there. But I’ll bet you they actually don’t think it’s nice now they have to drive a fair distance south to get north. At least a mile I’d guess if they simply want to drive to the opposite side of the river when travelling towards Shepherd Bush rather than just hopping over the bridge. Not exactly great in terms of pollution but I’m sure you’ll disregard that small detail. The sooner they have it back open to traffic the better we will all be, especially in Putney.

Freddie Francis ● 770d

Michael, it's a suggestion by a group called [We Are] Possible (https://www.wearepossible.org/) whose aim is to speed up action to counter climate change.On Hammersmith Bridge, they advocate keeping it closed to private cars permanently while improving connectivity in the community. "This will reduce traffic, cut carbon, clean the air, and restore this beautiful grade II listed structure as a bridge people can walk and cycle across or simply visit to enjoy the tranquility of the river."Sounds an excellent idea to me.

Richard Carter ● 770d