Robert Moses wouldn't have put up with this nonsense. The man who did more than practically any other to shape modern-day New York would have taken one look at Hammersmith Bridge and ordered it rebuilt at any price. Though, being Moses, it probably would have involved 16 lanes, the unnecessary demolition of hundreds of homes and the total subjugation of City Hall.
The timeline looks something like this: Hammersmith Bridge was shut in April 2019 by Hammersmith and Fulham Council after safety sensors detected “dangerous micro-fractures” in the cast-iron pedestals that hold the suspension system in place. It reopened to cyclists and pedestrians in July 2021, but drivers have been forced to divert to Chiswick Bridge or Putney Bridge ever since.
And as our City Hall and Transport Editor Ross Lydall reveals, the cost of repairing Hammersmith Bridge has soared to £250 million, raising fears that the Thames crossing may never reopen to road vehicles. For reference, when the bridge was first closed in 2019, the council estimated the repairs to be in excess of £40 million.
Money is clearly a substantial stumbling block. The Department for Transport has said that Hammersmith and Fulham Council and Transport for London should each stump up a third of the cash, with the taxpayer providing the rest. But the borough says it doesn't have the funds, while Transport for London hasn't set money aside in its most recent budget.
But funding isn't the only problem. There is a lot of politics at play. First, of course, is the permanent state of hostilities that exists between central government and City Hall. For their part, ministers don't seem to be in much of a hurry.
The council is poised to consult on a toll, around £3 for drivers, to help fund its share and hopes to begin construction on a temporary double-deck structure in 2026. Yet it has waited since April last year for the government to approve its business case.
In his news story, Ross ominously notes that discussions on funding the repairs have reached a stalemate, with a government taskforce having last met more than two years ago. Asked to estimate when drivers might be able to use the bridge as before, local MP Sarah Olney said: “Not for at least a decade."
Elsewhere in the paper, is it an election year? The Mayor has revealed his revised budget for 2024/25 which includes a £512 million spending 'uplift'. This will be used to direct more money to the Metropolitan Police, to fund a pay rise of up to 7 per cent for all 16,000 London Underground staff and support motorists seeking to scrap Ulez non-compliant vehicles.
Most of the cash appears to derive from higher-than-expected business rates and the use of City Hall reserves. We might know more about the budget, but Sadiq Khan declined to answer questions on it at Mayor's Question Time. Also, stand by for tomorrow's fares announcement. Half-price Fridays, perhaps?
In the comment pages, George Chesterton says Labour and the Left must escape the disaster of ‘progressive politics. Homes & Property Editor Prudence Ivey suggests lowering our expectations of house price growth is no bad thing. While Melanie McDonagh takes aim at loos on the Tube.
And finally, from the grand return of the dodo to Soho's rebirth, here's ES Magazine's list of reasons to be cheerful in 2024.
