Government report says Hammersmith Bridge may be safe to partially reopen
A government commissioned report has said Hammersmith Bridge is potentially safe to reopen to pedestrians and cyclists and that the local council’s safety report was too conservative.
The report – commissioned for the Department for Transport’s task force and undertaken by engingeering company Aecom – said “there is now a better understanding of how the bridge might be behaving” and that “assumptions on its closure should be revisited”.
The report says the partial reopening could happen “without major works”.
The report has already been canned by Hammersmith and Fulham Council who said “world-leading specialist engineers” said the bridge must stay completely closed in what is an escalation of the local authority’s row with the government.
The Hammersmith Bridge was closed to vehicles last year due to potentially dangerous cracks, but stayed open for cyclists and pedestrians.
In summer, during a heatwave, it was also closed to cyclists and pedestrians as the cracks widened and fears grew of a “catastrophic failure”.
Its closure has led to an outpouring of frustration from West Londoners and has caused traffic build-ups in the area.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council and Transport for London (TfL) estimate that full repairs of the bridge would cost £140m, however the government believes this figure is inflated.
Transport minister Baroness Charlotte Vere said the Labour-run council should consider partially reopening the bridge.
“I’m calling on Hammersmith and Fulham Council to seriously consider these reports so we can do right by people who have been impacted by this bridge’s closure, and help people move around London easily again as soon as is safely possible,” she said.
“We remain committed to finding a funding solution for the bridge’s full repair and reopening to vehicular traffic.”
Hammersmith and Fulham councillor Stephen Cowan said government officials have been asking the council to reopen the bridge to cyclists and pedestrians for months.
Cowan said the government refused to take legal responsibility for such a move.
“The bridge was closed because world-leading specialist engineers strongly advised the badly-corroded suspension structure faced catastrophic failure,” he said.
“If the bridge collapsed, as they advised it could, it would have been a national disaster.
“Our consistent advice to the government has been to listen to the specialist engineers on the Continued Case for Safe Operation (CCSO) board which constantly reviews such matters to protect public safety.”