Signal No. HM-RE018
The Daily WTF
London closed Hammersmith Bridge to cars in 2019. It now says it may never reopen.
London, United Kingdom
ReportedDear Mamdani, London has a bridge you can walk across, cycle across, and look at. You just can't drive across it.
Hammersmith Bridge closed to cars in 2019, after cracks were found in its cast iron. Seven years on, the council has done the maths. Restoring it would cost £300 million, which is roughly the price of a new bridge. So far, £54 million has been spent keeping it open to people on foot and on bikes.
The government's fund for repairs needs projects finished by March 2030. A full restoration can't be finished by then, so it can't apply.
We have heard of bridges to nowhere. This is the first bridge to almost everywhere, except by car.
The facts
- Hammersmith Bridge in west London closed to cars in 2019 after cracks were found in its cast-iron structures. It stays open to pedestrians and cyclists.
- On 1 July 2026, a Hammersmith & Fulham Council report said there was "no financial option available" for full restoration, which it costed at £300 million.
- The council said it had spent £54 million keeping the bridge open for walking and cycling. The Department for Transport said it had provided £17 million.
- The government's Structures Fund requires projects to be finished by 31 March 2030, which rules out a full restoration.
- The local MP, Fleur Anderson, said she was deeply disappointed and would keep campaigning for the bridge to reopen to vehicles.
Sources
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