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| Hammersmith Bridge |
The bridge will apparently remain closed "until the engineers are confident that it is safe to re-open to pedestrians and river traffic".
But when will this be? The bridge has been closed since April 2019, following a long and sorry saga of temporary closures and regular postponement of the necessary repairs.
Tomorrow Thursday 3rd September at 5pm there will be a Hammersmith Bridge Protest Meeting, to be held on both sides of the bridge.
Guests include a cross channel swimmer who will be swimming across the Thames from Barnes to Hammersmith.
If you're fed up with the endless delays and prevarications and would like to see our council do something about repairing the bridge, show up and let your voice be heard.
Rather than find a way to pay for the repairs, our local Council, LBHF, seem to have decided on a new idea - to celebrate the closure instead. Hammersmith Bridge is being re-branded as a "green" bridge - cycles and pedestrians only. No more polluting wicked cars.
Nick Fairholme, TfL’s director of project and programme delivery, told a conference: “Although we want to reopen it, [a full repair] is not going to be a cheap fix. If there is public support for leaving it as a pedestrian and cycle bridge then we will have to consider that.”
The trouble is, Hammersmith Bridge is a major traffic artery for thousands of Londoners, and the closure has forcibly re-routed six bus routes. LBHF say that they have no money for repairs, but there are two simple ways that the money could be raised.
Toll Bridge
The first and most obvious solution is to levy a toll. Tolls pay for bridges all over the world, and even Hammersmith Bridge began its life as a toll bridge.
A charge of as little as £1 would, assuming 20,000 vehicles a day for 365 days, raise over £7 million per year - a more than adequate income stream to secure commercial financing.
By way of comparison, the Batheaston toll bridge in Bath charges 80p and the Clifton suspension bridge charges £1 (it increased from 50p in 2014). Tolls are very democratic - anyone who doesn't want to pay could use another bridge, or walk.
Sell some assets
The second easy solution for LBHF would be to sell some valuable assets that serve no purpose, such as the Cecil French collection, a collection of Victorian artwork that is not on display, cannot be seen by the public, and costs money to archive and insure. To see our proposed solution for how LBHF could raise the cash to solve this (and many other problems), follow this link.
The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush. If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog@gmail.com
If you're fed up with the endless delays and prevarications and would like to see our council do something about repairing the bridge, show up and let your voice be heard.
Hammersmith Bridge - Closed for Good?
According to an article in July in the London Evening Standard, Hammersmith Bridge "may be shut to drivers for good" as the repair bill for the ailing structure nears £100m.Rather than find a way to pay for the repairs, our local Council, LBHF, seem to have decided on a new idea - to celebrate the closure instead. Hammersmith Bridge is being re-branded as a "green" bridge - cycles and pedestrians only. No more polluting wicked cars.
Nick Fairholme, TfL’s director of project and programme delivery, told a conference: “Although we want to reopen it, [a full repair] is not going to be a cheap fix. If there is public support for leaving it as a pedestrian and cycle bridge then we will have to consider that.”
The trouble is, Hammersmith Bridge is a major traffic artery for thousands of Londoners, and the closure has forcibly re-routed six bus routes. LBHF say that they have no money for repairs, but there are two simple ways that the money could be raised.
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| Clifton Suspension Bridge - £1 toll |
The first and most obvious solution is to levy a toll. Tolls pay for bridges all over the world, and even Hammersmith Bridge began its life as a toll bridge.
A charge of as little as £1 would, assuming 20,000 vehicles a day for 365 days, raise over £7 million per year - a more than adequate income stream to secure commercial financing.
By way of comparison, the Batheaston toll bridge in Bath charges 80p and the Clifton suspension bridge charges £1 (it increased from 50p in 2014). Tolls are very democratic - anyone who doesn't want to pay could use another bridge, or walk.
Sell some assets
The second easy solution for LBHF would be to sell some valuable assets that serve no purpose, such as the Cecil French collection, a collection of Victorian artwork that is not on display, cannot be seen by the public, and costs money to archive and insure. To see our proposed solution for how LBHF could raise the cash to solve this (and many other problems), follow this link.
The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush. If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog@gmail.com
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