Repairs to a crumbling bridge in a major UK city have become so high it may never fully reopen. Hammersmith Bridge, London, was closed in 2019 after it became unsafe for traffic to drive over it. Since then, costs to repair the bridge have spiralled up to £250million.
Discussions over the funding have reached an impasse after it was revealed that the government taskforce in charge of fixing the bridge last met two years ago.
Sources told the press there was little change of a breakthrough despite outrage from residents over the delays.
As the fiasco intensifies, local MPs whose constituents have been affected by the closure have said the repair bill means it is unlikely the bridge will fully reopen.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, Sarah Olney, told the Evening Standard that it was “increasingly possible” that the 137-year-old bridge “won’t reopen to traffic”.
Before micro-fractures forced it to shut, the famous 1887 structure carried over 20,000 vehicles a day and formed part of seven bus routes.
Following its closure, the bus routes were diverted via Chiswick and Putney bridges, increasing congestion on both main roads.
In light of the skyrocketing cost, the Department for Transport has asked the local council and Transport for London to pay a third of the bill.
In response, Ms Olney said the only people who had access to that money were the Department for Transport and that no local authority “has the means to foot a bill of this size”.
She added that drivers may not be able to use the bridge for another ten years while Labour MP Fleur Anderson said it could be “several years”. Although drivers cannot use the bridge it was partially reopened to cyclists and pedestrians in 2021.
Ms Anderson said: “The frustration is that if the Government had said ‘this is a national transport route and a major London artery, we have got to fix it’ when it was first closed, the bill would have been far, far less and it would be open by now.
“These increasing costs make it less likely the work can ever be done. I would like the Government to say ‘This is a national route. We will fund it.”
Although the bridge may not reopen to cars until the 2030s, work is still being carried out to improve access for non-motorists.
Hammersmith Council said stabilisation work to replace seized bearings should be completed within the first half of this year.
Furthermore, the council is also in discussions for a potential £3 toll for the bridge to raise money for its third of the bill alongside a potential redesign which could include a double-decker structure.
In a statement, TfL said: “We are supporting Hammersmith and Fulham in plans to fully reopen Hammersmith Bridge to traffic.”
