Hammersmith and Fulham Council is seeking a phased approach to the Hammersmith Bridge restoration project due to funding barriers preventing its full repair.

A meeting report that will go before cabinet members next Monday confirms that restoration works for the bridge are ‘extensive’ and call for a ‘brand-new bridge to be built’.

With the cost of the full restoration works (which would allow for motor vehicles to use the bridge) totalling at approximately £300m, the report says that ‘there are no options within council funds for repair of the bridge’ due to the local authority’s recent insufficient financial settlement.

‘The 139-year-old bridge, however, remains officially designated as a substandard structure that requires further major repairs in order to remain safely open for pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic below. Without significant investment, the bridge is likely to have to fully close again on safety grounds in the short to medium term’, the report reads.

It also highlights that the local authority is currently paying roughly £1.5m per year to satisfy statutory and safety obligations for the bridge’s maintenance, monitoring, and inspections.

As part of its recommendations to cabinet members, the report proposes that the council submits a bid for the bridge’s phased repair, which prioritises ‘the most critical life-expired elements of the structure, with the immediate aim of keeping the bridge open and safeguarding access for pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic’.

This option aligns with the Department for Transport’s preference for the council to present a phased repair bid for investment from the Government’s new £1bn Structures Fund, it argues.