The historic bridge closed last summer due to safety concerns after a heatwave worsened cracks in its cast iron pedestals. Hammersmith & Fulham Council is now proposing that access across the River Thames could be restored by launching a truss structure above the crossing’s existing deck, featuring a lower level for pedestrians and cyclists and an upper level for cars and buses.

The option is set to be discussed by the Government’s Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce at a meeting this week.

This comes after a technical study carried out by architect Foster & Partners and bridge engineer COWI for the council indicated that the 134 year old bridge’s foundations would be able to support the truss.

The proposal could allow the crossing to reopen to pedestrians and cyclists next summer, and motor vehicles shortly afterwards. The scheme would also cost around £100M, which is £40M less than other restoration options.

Following installation of the temporary truss, elements of the bridge that need repair would be lifted away and transported by barges to an off site facility for safe repair and restoration. The full restoration could be completed in 2023.

Foster & Partners head of structural engineering Roger Ridsdill Smith said: “The feasibility study supports the technical viability of the proposed temporary crossing, showing it that it has the potential to be significantly cheaper than a scheme that repairs the bridge in situ. It also offers the possibility of the bridge reopening earlier than previously envisaged.”

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is also proposing to fund the cost of repairs to the bridge through introduction of a toll, which could cost motorists £3 to drive over the crossing. It suggests that this fee could be enforced using the same automatic number plate recognition technology as the London congestion charge.

The council also proposes transferring ownership of the structure – including responsibility for long term maintenance – to a charitable trust.

Council leader Stephen Cowan said: “Hammersmith Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the world and the most expensive in Britain to repair.

“So, while we’re working to fully restore the bridge as quickly as possible, we’re also determined to put in place the necessary governance and long term funding arrangements that will make sure it is properly maintained well into the next century.”

Elsewhere in west London, active travel campaigners have condemned a fresh decision by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea not to reinstate a pop-up cycleway along Kensington High Street, which was controversially removed last year just seven weeks after its installation.

At a meeting last week, the council’s leadership team considered calls to reinstate the scheme but instead resolved to commission research into post-Covid transport patterns, which could lead to a feasibility study for future active travel projects.

Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said: “The Kensington High Street scheme was a temporary solution to an urgent problem but permanent changes to our roads need full and proper consultation. This has been a divisive issue and passionate arguments were made on both sides. I would urge people to come together and work with us to find an alternative for our whole community.”

Following this latest decision, the London Cycling Campaign has called on London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to take immediate action.

The group’s healthy streets campaigner Clare Rogers said: “The cycle tracks, even though they were only in for a few weeks, proved a crucial safety measure for thousands of people daily, both on a strategic east-west route for London and for local trips such as families riding to school, on what was, and now is again, the most dangerous road in the borough for cycling.”

Meanwhile an agreement has been struck between the Government and the Mayor of London to extend the current Transport for London emergency Covid funding deal to 18 May, after the upcoming mayoral election.

The extension comprises two additional funding payments totalling £260M, taking total Government support for TfL to more than £3Bn since last March. A new deal is expected to be agreed after the election.

(Photograph: Alex Muller and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence)