Hammersmith Bridge 'closed to vehicles until 2027'
Hammersmith Bridge will not fully reopen to vehicles until 2027, a taskforce set up to oversee the 133-year-old crossing's reopening has revealed.
The west London bridge has been closed to traffic for more than a year, while pedestrians and cyclists were stopped from crossing in August after the bridge was deemed in “immediate danger” of collapse.
Experts leading the taskforce, set up by the Department for Transport (DfT) last month to work with bodies like Hammersmith and Fulham Council, which owns the bridge, and Transport for London (TfL), revealed the bridge required major stabilisation and strengthening work at a public meeting into its latest work.
Chairing the meeting, Baroness Vere, from the DfT, said they were "looking at six and a half years" before the bridge would fully reopen to vehicles.
It is hoped a ferry service for pedestrians would begin operating next spring to provide, the taskforce's project director Dana Skelley said.
According to the Continued Case for Safe Operation, the bridge remains, in “immediate danger” of collapse.
The taskforce outlined a phased reopening of the bridge over several years, with a controlled opening of the crossing for pedestrians and cyclists potentially allowed after four months depending on the structure's condition following the phase 1 repairs.
Emergency stabilisation work would take seven months and cost £13.9m.
Permanent stabilisation work, costing another £32m, would take a further 21 months.
Extensive strengthening work would cost £80m and last for about 30 months, Ms Skelley said, and only then cars and buses be allowed to use it.
The public meeting received over 600 questions from the local community and wider public.
The bridge's £140 million repair bill has been the subject of fierce debate.
The council says it cannot afford the stump up the money and has asked Transport for London to intervene.
But London transport bosses say they have already pledged some money and need the government to intervene.
However the Department of Transport still haven't confirmed what help, if any, they can provide.