Fleur Anderson Marks Hammersmith Bridge's Unhappy Anniversary
Five years since the closure with no reopening in sight
Fleur Anderson with campaigners calling for the full reopening of the bridge
April 12, 2024
Putney MP Fleur Anderson has called for action on Hammersmith Bridge after the passing of the fifth anniversary of the closure.
She says that the government should stop passing on the blame for lack of progress onto the local council and TfL and provide funding for a full reopening.
She said, “It’s been over 5 years that Hammersmith Bridge has been closed to vehicles including buses. I have been campaigning for its reopening consistently. Meanwhile the Tories only come out at local and mayoral election time, pretending that their dither, delay and inaction isn’t the reason why repair costs are soaring.
“The Government should have taken action 5 years ago when costs were less than half they are now. Ministers have had the Business Case proposal from Hammersmith and Fulham Council for 15 months now. “
She says she has led two Parliamentary debates on the need to reopen Hammersmith Bridge and have spoken about the bridge 26 times in Parliament; held cross-party meetings with all MPs in area, met with Hammersmith and Fulham Council leaders, Wandsworth Council leaders, and Deputy Mayor for Transport Seb Dance, organised a public day of action to demand the Bridge be reopened to vehicles, handed in a petition to Parliament arguing for the reopening of the Bridge and launched a resident consultation on how the closure of Hammersmith Bridge has impacted residents, local business, schools and commuters.
The Department for Transport recently announced that it was providing £2.9million to fund a permanent cycle lane across the bridge. At the moment cyclists are able to cross the bridge but this is only possible due to a temporary suspension of stabilisation work and it is expected to close again before the summer. The government grant would allow for resurfacing work which is expected to finish by November. Transport Minister Huw Merriman said that the government saw this as the first step towards full reopening but that the final decision lay with Hammersmith & Fulham Council which owns the bridge.
The closure has already become an issue in the Mayoral and Greater London Assembly elections due to take place on 2 May. The Conservatives are blaming Sadiq Khan and Hammersmith & Fulham Council for failing to come up with a viable plan for repair. The council’s proposals for a double decker structure to allow the bridge to reopen while it is being fixed are still with the transport ministry.
The Green Party candidate for Mayor, Zoe Garbett, is saying that plans to reopen the bridge to motor vehicles should be abandoned and it should be available for the use of pedestrians and cyclists only.
Ms Anderson dismissed this suggestion saying, “There is still a huge impact on Roehampton residents because of the bus routes stopping, and in Putney because of the congestion and pollution. I want to encourage cycling, but the extra traffic and pollution puts people off.
“I have conductions survey of local businesses which showed that 75% of businesses have seen a negative impact because of the Bridge closure.”
She continued, “The cost of bridge repairs has gone from £40million in 2019 to £250 million. So far Hammersmith and Fulham Council, despite having half its budget cut by the Government, has paid out £30 million on the bridge and the Government have only contributed £13 million.
“The Department for Transport has also delayed consideration of Hammersmith and Fulham’s business case for the full restoration of the bridge which was formally submitted to the DfT one year ago and had been expected to be agreed before Christmas and then again in the new year.
“We have seen numerous Conservative politicians stand in front of the bridge promising to re-open it, some of them have even launched their local or mayoral election campaigns there with Government Ministers. However, when it comes to actually stepping up, when the election campaigning is over, these proposed plans fade into the dust and Conservative politicians stop discussions on the bridge.”
Greg Hands, who is the MP for Chelsea and Fulham argues that Hammersmith and Fulham council should be stripped of control of the structure and the power transferred to TfL who he says, “have a much stronger interest in reopening the bridge”.
He continued, “It is a major problem for a city the size of London – there’s 5 miles of the Thames which are uncrossable to buses, cars or emergency vehicles – it is a massive, massive issue”.
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