Sarah Olney MP marks five years since closure of Hammersmith Bridge to motorists

Evening Standard

Londoners have been warned on the fifth anniversary of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge that it will be at least another five years before it can be reopened to cars, even if the £250 million estimated cost of fixing it is found today.The Grade II* listed crossing was hurriedly closed to vehicles five years ago after its owner, Hammersmith and Fulham council, found that its wrought-iron structure was riddled with cracks. Pedestrians and cyclists were temporarily banned the following year.

Transcript

00:00 So today is the fifth anniversary of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge in April 2019.

00:06 We're very much, we're just commemorating the day.

00:08 It's obviously not a celebration for people, both who live near the bridge and those from further afield,

00:13 who have found over the last five years that their ability to move around this part of the city

00:18 has been really, really severely curtailed and that's had such a massive impact on so many people.

00:23 Who is primarily to blame for the bridge's continued closure?

00:26 Well, there's no doubt in my mind we need to see something from the government

00:30 in order to get things moving for Hammersmith Bridge.

00:32 We've been in conversations with Hammersmith and Fulham who own the bridge,

00:35 for TfL who obviously have strategic responsibility,

00:38 but the fact remains there's no money to fix the bridge unless the government are

00:43 prepared to come to the table with a proper proposal for funding.

00:46 And I have been asking the Department for Transport repeatedly,

00:50 ever since I was elected, what it is that they plan to do.

00:55 They've had a proposal on their desk from Hammersmith and Fulham since last year,

01:00 and every time I ask they're still considering it.

01:02 We really need to see something from the government,

01:05 a really renewed commitment to funding the repairs to this bridge.

01:08 What's behind the hold-up if it's been on their desk for that amount of time, as far as you're aware?

01:13 I have no idea. I assume it's a reluctance just to kind of get to grips with what needs to happen here,

01:18 reluctance to commit the funds. It's expensive, no one's denying that.

01:22 But of course the costs have grown over the last five years and that's a significant issue now,

01:26 where I think the original estimates for repairing the bridge were something in the region of,

01:32 I think, 70 million to start with and now multiple hundreds of millions,

01:36 and obviously that's a large amount of money.

01:39 So I think obviously that's part of the hold-up,

01:43 but we can't really afford to waste any more time.

01:46 We need to get on with it, we need that commitment,

01:48 and people locally and further afield need to see what's going to happen.

01:53 What has been the impact on your constituents here in Richmond Park?

01:57 I think the main impact has been a real limitation on what people are able to do.

02:03 You know, they can't cross the bridge here.

02:05 It really limits their ability to seek employment on the north side of the Thames.

02:10 For local children it really limits their choice of schools because it's really, really hard to travel.

02:15 But I think primarily people can't catch a bus now from this side of the Thames to the other side of the Thames,

02:21 and that just creates so many limitations,

02:22 particularly people who don't have access to a car, who can't walk or cycle across the bridge,

02:27 and it's those people who are really, really feeling the impact of the bridge closure.

02:32 Obviously there are different views about how the bridge should be restored and repaired.

02:35 There are some that are saying it shouldn't be reopened to cars but perhaps to buses.

02:39 Is it absolutely necessary in your view that the bridge be also opened to cars?

02:43 I've always said my priority is that it should be open to buses and to emergency vehicles,

02:50 and that for me has always been the priority because that's what's really creating the limitations for my constituents.

02:58 But obviously in order for the bridge to be repaired to that level, that's expensive.

03:04 So that's what we want to see.

Category

Transcript

Recommended