Hammersmith Bridge – Where did 25,000 vehicles go?
5 comments
·December 4, 2025blakesterz
This was an interesting, very long, read! They say of those 25,000 daily trips, most shifted to cycling, walking and public transport, and some moved to other bridges. And then another 9,000 or so were replaced by alternatives that were just better... people tried new transport modes and often found they were better. They do say the closure has created genuine hardship for specific groups.
rsynnott
I mean, I think they're missing the key point? It is listed. The Victorians would have (and did) simply torn down the existing structure and built a new one. That's not an option here. The price comparison is kind of absurd.
bell-cot
Article Summary: Why we can't have nice infrastructure any more. :(
bryanlarsen
I expected that to be the conclusion, but it's not. They could spend £250m on the bridge, but they're not. And it appears to be the right answer since it wouldn't provide anywhere near £250m worth of utility. They'd spend £250m to make things worse -- right now it's an awesome cyclist/pedestrian bridge, and after spending £250m it'd be much worse for that.
Not disagreeing with the author's conclusion, but the price comparison to the original struck me as a bit odd.
Ceteris paribus, building the exact same bridge will result in the exact same failure. Some of the additional cost is precisely to avoid the present scenario repeating itself in the future.
How big that addition represents and how effective it is up for debate, but asking for a better bridge at inflation adjusted price is not a. apples to apples comparison.