If you live in West London, you probably know the drill by now. You check your route in the morning, hoping that, just maybe, your journey might be slightly less torturous than the previous day. But no. With Hammersmith already undergoing maintenance that started what must have been before I was born, the geniuses at Wandsworth Council have decided to recreate the chaos at Putney Bridge.
Hammersmith and Putney Bridge, both critical arteries in an already traffic-heavy city, are once again swamped in roadworks that seem to serve no tangible purpose. It’s as if the people in charge are determined to turn daily commutes into a test of patience — and it’s beyond frustrating.
Take Hammersmith Bridge, for instance. For years, residents have watched this Victorian structure slowly fall apart under its own age, neglected until the problems became so severe that it was eventually closed to cars in 2019. After promises of full restoration, the bridge now suffers from permanent closure to cars, whilst the pedestrianised section feels like crossing a bridge on a survival show. While there was certainly a genuine need for structural repairs, the current works seem never-ending. What’s even worse, the visible progress on these repairs feels like an afterthought. Scaffolding goes up, traffic restrictions are enforced, but it’s hard to see any tangible changes happening. How long can fixing one bridge really take? In the meantime, the disruption continues, with commuters forced to reroute through already congested areas, adding minutes or even hours to their journeys.
Then the brains of Hammersmith & Fulham combined with Wandsworth Council to decide to close another bridge. As if the Hammersmith saga wasn’t bad enough, this neighbouring crossing is now also engulfed in seemingly unnecessary works. While road repairs and maintenance are inevitable in a city as busy as London, the timing and extent of these works are baffling. On most days, the road appears perfectly serviceable. There are no visible cracks, no potholes, and no urgent signs of damage that would justify the level of disruption commuters are forced to endure. Yet here we are, navigating endless single lanes, dealing with unpredictable closures, and wondering if the bridge works are actually addressing anything at all.
What’s most maddening about the situation is the lack of transparency and communication. I’m a resident that is directly affected by the roadworks as the drilling is directly below my window, but I didn’t receive any prior notice. Transport authorities assure us that these roadworks are necessary, but they offer little in the way of concrete updates on their progress, nor any realistic timeframes for completion. In the case of Hammersmith Bridge, years of “emergency works” seem to have morphed into an endless cycle of minor fixes and protracted decision-making. Meanwhile, Putney Bridge feels like it’s fallen victim to the same piecemeal, dragged-out approach. It’s as if the people in charge have no sense of urgency, after all, they’re not the ones spending half their mornings stuck in gridlock, staring at unmanned construction sites with a growing sense of futility.
I cannot express my sheer gratitude to Wandsworth council for moving a bike land 2 feet across at the expense of months of disruption, spending millions of pounds and leaving the decaying infrastructure elsewhere in the borough.
The ripple effects of these roadworks are staggering. Local businesses that rely on passing trade are suffering. Residents in areas adjacent to these bridges are inundated with detoured traffic. And public transport, already stretched, is more packed and unreliable than ever, as commuters search for alternative routes. It’s a mess that could have been avoided, or at least better managed.
London is a world-class city, but you’d never know it by the way its infrastructure is handled. Of course, bridges require maintenance, and of course, safety is a priority. No one disputes that. But what we’re seeing with both Hammersmith and Putney Bridges feels like a failure of planning and execution, not just unfortunate necessity. The problem isn’t just that these works are taking forever, it’s that they feel mismanaged, miscommunicated, and, at times, completely unnecessary.
We deserve better. We pay an already high amount of Council Tax, we pay an already high amount of income tax, but why do the government and local councils always find the worst or most pointless way to spend it? It’s time for those responsible to get serious about timelines, communicate clearly, and, most importantly, deliver results. As we move forward there needs to be a greater duty of care and responsibility from those who plan and construct these roadworks. Fines for breaking promises and reliefs in council tax. Until then, we’ll be stuck, quite literally, in traffic, wondering why such essential parts of our city remain in perpetual disrepair.
