A Conservative vying to be the party’s London Mayoral candidate has said he will reopen Hammersmith Bridge to motor traffic within three years if elected.
Alex Challoner, a businessman who also fought for the Tory nomination at the 2024 election but was not selected, said he will take responsibility for the crossing from Hammersmith and Fulham Council and bring it under Greater London Authority (GLA) control.
Mr Challoner’s proposal would then see it given to Transport for London (TfL), with a hard deadline set to get the bridge reopened to motor vehicles within three years.
He claims he could get it done for less than the current £300million repair estimate even with the accelerated timeline. However when approached for comment on his idea, nobody including City Hall seemed to want to give it airtime.
“The Victorians built Hammersmith Bridge in three years,” Mr Challoner told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
“Sadiq Khan has spent seven failing to fix it, and Labour has now given up altogether. By the time Londoners vote in 2028, the bridge will have been closed for three times as long as it took to build.”
The LDRS asked Mr Challoner’s press team how the repairs would be funded, given the cost is estimated to be around £300million.
They said they believe the works could be completed for less than the current estimate, pointing to work done by think-tank Britain Remade indicating the UK pays 65 per cent more per unit of infrastructure than comparable international peers.
The Grade II* listed Victorian crossing was shut in 2019 after micro-fractures were discovered in its pedestal. Since then it has been reopened to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic, with the council, which owns the crossing, spending more than £50m maintaining and keeping it safe.
The funding to complete the repairs and enable drivers to again journey between Hammersmith and Barnes has however proven a major sticking point.
A 2021 settlement the former Conservative Government struck with TfL stated the cost would be split three ways between the two parties plus the council, but the ballooning sums involved have delayed progress.
Hopes the Government’s £1 billion Structures Fund would support the full reopening were dashed earlier this year, when it was revealed repairs would need to be completed by April 2030 to qualify for the cash.
Instead the Department for Transport (DfT) recommended the council submit a bid for a “phased repair”, with the aim of keeping the bridge open for pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic.
Mr Challoner, who has vowed to “unleash” the capital with a campaign focussed on cracking down on fare dodgers, has now revealed his own plans for Hammersmith Bridge should he be named the Conservative candidate and win the 2028 Mayoral election.
He said he would use the Highways Act 1980 to designate the crossing a GLA road before handing it to TfL. This would mean one organisation would manage the issue with a single person – the Mayor – to be accountable for it.
Mr Challoner said he will set a hard deadline of three years to reopen it to cars and buses, with a single delivery lead appointed and progress published on a monthly basis.
He said: “This election is a choice between winning London and losing for a fourth consecutive time. We will not win by doing what we’ve always done and saying what we’ve always said. We need bold solutions to London’s problems.”
Mr Challoner added the inability to fully reopen the bridge “is not a problem of engineering”. He added: “It is a problem of leadership. Everyone has passed the buck and nobody has taken charge, while families in Barnes, Putney and Hammersmith sit in traffic.
“I will take control of the bridge, put one person in charge and set a deadline. If the Victorians could build it in three years, we can fix it in three. Within three years of my election, cars and buses will be crossing Hammersmith Bridge again.”
A TfL spokesperson made no comment on whether the plan was viable, simply saying: “The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham are the owners and highway authority for Hammersmith Bridge. We continue to work with the borough, the Department for Transport and others to agree the right solution, as well as to agree how any future works to the bridge might be funded.”
Mr Challoner is contending with former Home Secretary Sir James Cleverly MP, Westminster City councillor Festus Akinbusoye and London Assembly Chair Andrew Boff to be named the Tory candidate.
A selection panel is to decide on a final two after which a series of hustings will be held, with Tory members to vote for their chosen candidate. This is expected to happen before the end of the year.