Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce meeting, 25 February 2021

The latest meeting of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce was held yesterday (25 February 2021).

It was chaired by Transport Minister, Baroness Vere. Attendees included the Project Director Dana Skelley, plus representatives from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London (TfL) and the Port of London Authority.

Dana Skelley, speaking on behalf of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, said: 

At yesterday’s Taskforce, the LBHF provided an update on the feasibility study commissioned into the Foster & Partners and COWI temporary bridge proposal. We now expect this study to be completed next week.

In addition, the Department for Transport has received outline financing options for the bridge repair from LBHF and is working with LBHF to develop them further.

The Taskforce also heard the latest from TfL regarding the procurement for the temporary ferry service, following the announcement earlier this week of City Cruises and Uber Boat by Thames Clippers as the shortlisted operators. We expect the contract to be awarded shortly, and wish to highlight that the TfL-led ferry procurement is independent of the proposed redevelopment of Harrods Wharf.

Lastly, we discussed the limited and controlled river transits currently permitted on Sundays, when engineers are not working on the bridge, and considered whether a greater number of transits would be enabled in line with increased demand as the river community emerges from both winter and coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

The Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce was set up by the Department for Transport in September 2020 to work towards safely reopening the Hammersmith Bridge.

The taskforce is chaired by Baroness Vere and includes representatives from TfL, LBHF, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Network Rail, the Greater London Authority and the Port of London Authority.