Chelsea and Battersea could be linked by an elegant pedestrian and cycle bridge within 18 months if plans to build a new crossing of the Thames in west London progress swiftly.

A planning application has been submitted to the boroughs of Wandsworth and Hammersmith & Fulham and if approved the proposal will be passed up to London’s Mayor. The architect behind the scheme says that the bridge could “with a fair wind behind it” open during spring 2014. He adds that corporate sponsorship will be sought to fund the £22M three span steel structure.

“We are hoping the bridge can be built at no cost to the taxpayer,” said director of One World Design Chris Medland. “There is already a precedent in London for infrastructure to be developed with private money, such as with the cycle hire scheme and the new cable car.”

He added that a new pedestrian and cycle crossing of the Thames at the proposed location would mean local people on foot or bike would no longer have to take long diversions to use either Wandsworth or Battersea bridges. The crossing would also improve access to the newly opened Imperial Wharf station on the London Overground line and support the “burgeoning evening economy of hotels and restaurants beside the river”.

The idea for a pedestrian crossing of the Thames between Chelsea and Battersea is not new, Mr Medland added. The concept was first discussed in the House of Commons in 1924 and a feasibility study carried out by WSP in 2003 found that the chosen location gave access to the greatest number of people.

London cycle hire fees to double

Charges to use the Barclays Cycle Hire in London are doubling in the New Year. From 2 January the 24 hour access fee to use a bicycle will increase from £1 to £2. Price of weekly access goes up from £5 to £10 and annual membership will increase from £45 to £90.

Transport for London said the price rise will help pay for improvements to the scheme, including its expansion to the west of the capital. A spokeswoman defended the increase saying that prices “were set very low at the beginning” when the scheme was launched in July 2010.

“The scheme has been very well received so far and it will still be priced very competitively at 24p a day for a yearly membership,” the spokeswoman added. “It has nothing to do with trying to reduce demand or stopping people from using it so much.”

More than 17M journeys have been made using the hire bicycles to date, with usage increasing by 35% during the last 12 months. Number of ‘casual users’ has more than doubled in the same period. The majority of cycle hire trips are completed within 30 minutes thereby not incurring an additional charge.