Climate charity calls on councils to explore a car-free transport solution for Hammersmith Bridge
Climate charity Possible is calling on Hammersmith & Fulham and Richmond Councils to agree to let them carry out a full feasibility study for their car-free alternative to reopening Hammersmith Bridge to motor traffic. The charity says that a fleet of lightweight autonomous electric vehicles could serve to re-establish a vital public transport link here without the need for further costly engineering works to the Grade II Listed structure.
The proposals would also see the introduction of a two-way protected cycle lane that would run across the bridge adjacent to the pods and would ensure that people could still walk across the bridge.
Since the bridge closed to cars over four years ago, records show that around half of the motor traffic that used to cross the river here has disappeared. The Mayor of London and Hammersmith & Fulham Council have both committed to challenging climate change targets which require a reduction in car traffic of over a quarter by 2030, but do not currently have the right policies in place to achieve this.
Possible’s alternative proposal has been developed with highways engineers and autonomous vehicle manufacturers, and is based on over a year of engagement with local communities and stakeholders on both sides of the river to explore local transport needs. The charity estimates that the total costs of delivering their scheme would be less than has already been spent by authorities on trying and failing to reopen the bridge to cars.
Stabilisation works to the bridge to make it safe for walking and cycling permanently are due to complete in the next few weeks, with the carriageway reopening to cyclists only. The shuttle solution has been designed to work within the existing engineering constraints on the bridge, which mean that only a single, lightweight vehicle will be able to cross at a time alongside pedestrians and cyclists.
The 10-passenger ‘pods’ will enable people with mobility difficulties in Barnes and Roehampton who cannot easily walk or cycle over the bridge to access public transport connections and amenities in Hammersmith town centre for the first time since it closed in 2019. The proposal would also involve a restructuring of bus routes to ensure that continuous journeys can operate smoothly over the river here.
Leo Murray, co-director at climate charity Possible, said:
“In the four years since excess motor traffic broke Hammersmith Bridge and it was forced to close to cars, vehicle counts show that traffic has actually fallen across south west London, even in key places where some local people believe it has got worse. Primary school children in Barnes can no longer even remember a time when cars drove over the bridge. With still no funding agreement in sight for the hugely costly work which would be needed to reopen Hammersmith Bridge to cars, it’s long past time for authorities to take other options for meeting local transport needs seriously. Our proposal looks to the clean transport technologies of the future, and could genuinely be in operation serving local communities within months. All we need to go ahead is for the councils to agree to let us carry out a full feasibility study.”
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For media enquiries and further information please contact press@wearepossible.org or 07806431577.
Leo Murray, co-director at climate charity Possible, is available for comment. Please contact press@wearepossible.org for more information.
Possible is a UK-based charity that brings people together to take positive, practical action on climate change. Combining individual and local actions with larger systemic change, we connect people with each other, and communities with ways to address the climate crisis. Wearepossible.org.
Hammersmith Bridge first closed to motor traffic in April 2019, and extensive negotiations between the owners, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, and the Department for Transport and Transport for London have still not led to any funding agreement for the works required to strengthen the Victorian structure to allow motor traffic to cross again. This is thought to be because the extra costs associated with its heritage status mean the business case cannot meet Treasury requirements to demonstrate value for public money.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council have stated that they have been legally instructed to reopen the bridge to cars by the government, but Possible have obtained a categorical statement by the Department for Transport that this is not the case, and that all decisions on the future of Hammersmith Bridge are for H&F Council to make alone, as the owners and the highways authority for the bridge.