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Post by rm1422 on Mar 2, 2020 12:47:57 GMT
Given the bridge is going to be closed probably at least another 3 years, how long is it going to take for the buses on the extended 419 to get accurate blinds? This morning I passed a Roehampton bound service on Rocks Lane still showing Hammersmith Bridge on the main blind even though it was well past there plus Roehampton Bessborough Road on one of those small black and white cards. I've also noticed some 419's in the other direction don't always show Richmond when going down Roehampton Lane, leaving the destination blank. I wonder if that's because drivers know it would be wrong to encourage passengers going that far when the 493 will take them there direct.
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Post by george on Mar 2, 2020 17:18:20 GMT
Given the bridge is going to be closed probably at least another 3 years, how long is it going to take for the buses on the extended 419 to get accurate blinds? This morning I passed a Roehampton bound service on Rocks Lane still showing Hammersmith Bridge on the main blind even though it was well past there plus Roehampton Bessborough Road on one of those small black and white cards. I've also noticed some 419's in the other direction don't always show Richmond when going down Roehampton Lane, leaving the destination blank. I wonder if that's because drivers know it would be wrong to encourage passengers going that far when the 493 will take them there direct. I've talked about this before, now I just find it funny how long it's taking thankfully a lot are done though.
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Post by thelondonthing on Mar 3, 2020 21:07:46 GMT
Earlier today, several MPs attended a Westminster Hall debate discussing the problems of funding the bridge repair, and strongly urging central government to contribute financially towards the project. Andy Slaughter MP (Hammersmith & Fulham) was the key speaker, and his comments indicated that the financial situation is somewhat worse than had been previously understood publicly. Much of this post is composed of quotes from the debate that I transcribed, so if you don't like reading long posts, then please scroll past. Slaughter outlined the current funding predicament: He also made clear that the £25m already committed by TfL is the only money that has actually been allocated to the project, and that without it, there would have been no progress at all to date: However, £25m can only go so far - in fact, it's already effectively been used up. Slaughter also revealed that that £25m is TfL's total contribution to the entire project - they won't be adding any more to the pot: Far more concerning is that it seems Hammersmith & Fulham is apparently unable to contribute anything to the project (quote edited for brevity): As you may have spotted there, the MP's comments reiterate the fact that the bridge refurbishment will only support single-decker electric buses; those hoping that it might be rated for heavier electric double-deckers are in for a disappointment. Most d*mning in the debate was the admission that there's a very real possibility that work will grind to a halt if funding cannot be agreed quickly: To my knowledge, it was not publicly understood that the project is so severely underfunded. While H&F have certainly made noises about their inability to bear the full cost of the bridge repair, I don't recall any previous statement from officials to indicate that they wouldn't be able to contribute anything to the project, leaving the entire £95m balance unfunded. TfL and H&F have submitted formal proposals to the DfT, applying for a financial contribution through a scheme available to local authorities across England seeking funding for infrastructure projects. However, it's not at all clear if the DfT will approve these applications. Comments from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport did not sound encouraging: To my ears, that sounds like the DfT telling H&F that they already get plenty of money through various mechanisms, and that the fact that H&F owns the bridge should have made them consider the costs of maintaining it more responsibly. I can only guess how this is all going to play out, but I can't imagine that the Conservatives in central government are going to be particularly eager to make life easier for the Labour-run H&F by writing a £95m cheque to fund the bridge. This will surely be a contentious issue in the London Mayoral elections too, and both parties will no doubt be using it as a stick to beat each other with during the campaign. The question is whether or not the political game-playing will get in the way of progress - as it so often does - resulting in work on the bridge grinding to a halt. There was one other interesting point that emerged from the debate - the temporary bridge is confirmed and fully funded. The cost of its construction is coming from TfL's £25m, as Slaughter explained: So if they can't get the full £120m, at least they've got the cash to build the temporary bridge and let the old one crumble into the river...
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Post by southlondonbus on Mar 3, 2020 21:54:29 GMT
Wow. Didn't realise TFLs £25m was merely to progress to the stage of some works going ahead once the funding is found and that that money will not even lead to a vehicle crossing the bridge.
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Post by southlondonbus on Mar 5, 2020 9:17:13 GMT
All the Putney area routes (14/93/337/430 etc) are now having new Saturday and Sunday timetables to mitigate traffic caused by Hammersmith Bridge closure. Even at weekends buses are screwed by the closure which surely must put even more pressure to get it sorted.
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Post by snowman on Mar 5, 2020 9:44:56 GMT
All the Putney area routes (14/93/337/430 etc) are now having new Saturday and Sunday timetables to mitigate traffic caused by Hammersmith Bridge closure. Even at weekends buses are screwed by the closure which surely must put even more pressure to get it sorted. It is also resulting in lower frequencies, and lower number of timetabled journeys (reduced mileage). Effectively saying as buses go slower, rather than add a bus to maintain mileage, will cut the service
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Post by southlondonbus on Mar 5, 2020 9:50:40 GMT
Yes. Coupled with the south wimbledon diversion the 93 is really struggling to keep to anywhere it's old frequency.
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Post by thelondonthing on Mar 5, 2020 16:32:40 GMT
TfL is launching a new consultation on its plans for the temporary bridge, and has shared preliminary details on its proposal: TfL has published an overview page on its website, ahead of the consultation's formal launch on 14 March, when the page will be updated with additional details on the project, along with a feedback form to allow people to have their say on the proposals. There will also be four "public drop-in exhibitions" in Barnes and Hammersmith throughout March, where people will be able to view further information on the plans.
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Post by george on Mar 5, 2020 16:47:47 GMT
TfL is launching a new consultation on its plans for the temporary bridge, and has shared preliminary details on its proposal: TfL has published an overview page on its website, ahead of the consultation's formal launch on 14 March, when the page will be updated with additional details on the project, along with a feedback form to allow people to have their say on the proposals. There will also be four "public drop-in exhibitions" in Barnes and Hammersmith throughout March, where people will be able to view further information on the plans. From tomorrow Grit blasting will start on the bridge for around three weeks.
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Post by thelondonthing on Mar 14, 2020 3:27:32 GMT
Attachment DeletedAs expected, TfL has today published additional details of its plans for the temporary bridge, in the form of a general proposal overview, and a more comprehensive 'information sheet' that includes more detail on the plans. The online feedback form for the consultation is also now available. It's going to be quite a short consultation period, though - TfL is closing the consultation in just over a week, on 22 March. There are a few interesting tidbits in the new documentation, but perhaps the most important is the schedule of works. After the consultation closes, the proposal anticipates that planning permission for the temporary bridge will be granted by Richmond and H&F councils by this summer, with works expected to commence shortly thereafter. Assuming that things proceed as expected. the temporary bridge is expected to open in "winter 2020/21", meaning that it's likely to open in Q1 2021. According to the 'information sheet', "the works to install the [temporary] bridge would take approximately six to seven months to complete." But it's the last phase of the published timeline that might raise an eyebrow: "Start of next phase of repair works to existing bridge (*subject to Hammersmith and Fulham Council) - winter/spring 2020/21". We already know from the recent Westminster Hall debate by MPs that TfL will not be allocating any more funding to the project than the £25m that it's already provided (the cost of the temporary bridge is also coming from that £25m). We also know that there is a massive funding shortfall; as Andy Slaughter MP pointed out, H&F is "not in a position to come up with the money" needed to fund the rest of the £120m project, which is why representations were made to try to secure funding from central government. Slaughter said during the debate [ emphasis added]: So we know, with certainty, that there is no more funding available at this time, and that "work will stop" on the existing bridge as soon as May. With TfL now expecting the "start of next phase of repair works" to begin in "winter/spring 2020/21", that means that at least six months will pass with absolutely no work being carried out on the existing bridge. And since that date is still "subject to Hammersmith and Fulham Council" - who, by their own admission, cannot provide the remaining funding needed to repair the bridge - the possibility of further delays seems very real indeed. If I were a betting man, I'd put good money on the temporary bridge remaining up for a lot longer than planned, with works on the existing bridge being pushed further and further back as H&F remain unable or unwilling to put up the remaining £95m to finish the job. On top of all of this, the impact of coronavirus is also a big unknown. TfL revenues, H&F's operating budget, workers' health, the broader economy, and any number of other relevant factors may all be affected in ways that could add further complications to the project.
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Post by thelondonthing on Mar 17, 2020 15:57:17 GMT
No surprise: TfL has cancelled the exhibitions that had been scheduled this month to showcase the temporary bridge to the public, due to COVID-19 concerns. Attachment DeletedNotably, TfL has also removed the consultation end-date (it was due to end on 22 March). TfL now says: "We remain keen to hear your views on our plans for a temporary bridge and will continue to engage about this scheme over the coming weeks." I'm sure that this is just the first of many delays we'll see to the proposed timeline for the two bridges. Realistically, with the coronavirus situation continuing to escalate, I think it's vanishingly unlikely that either the existing or temporary bridges will be completed within the expected timeframes that have previously been announced. This is, of course, quite understandable. Priorities - in London, as elsewhere - will necessarily change as the pandemic spreads, and as the scale of its broader impact becomes clearer. But even after the crisis eventually passes, it's reasonable to assume that there will be immense strains on the public purse in its aftermath. While the temporary bridge is already funded, the repairs to the existing one are not - and I can't imagine it becoming any easier to find the remaining £95m to fix the bridge when the entire country will surely be facing huge financial pressures from the cost of managing the crisis. It seems unlikely to me that restoring the bridge to carry traffic again will be considered a high priority for quite some time to come. Indeed, I genuinely don't think it's realistic to expect the old bridge to be carrying traffic again for at least another 4-5 years. I also fully expect that in 4-5 years, there still won't be accurate blinds on every 419 in service.
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Post by LondonNorthern on Mar 20, 2020 13:05:54 GMT
Why can't they build the temporary bridge and abandon the old one? The temporary bridge seems cheaper at this point than the old one 😂
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Post by vjaska on Mar 20, 2020 13:44:27 GMT
Why can't they build the temporary bridge and abandon the old one? The temporary bridge seems cheaper at this point than the old one 😂 Because the temporary bridge can't take motor vehicles for starters - abandoning the old bridge will leave the surrounding area with awful traffic conditions permanently.
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Post by thelondonthing on Apr 6, 2020 12:35:19 GMT
At some point during the last two weeks, TfL quietly introduced a new deadline for the consultation - and it turns out that it was yesterday. The consultation was originally due to end on 22 March; but on 17 March, TfL removed the consultation end-date after its planned public exhibitions were cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis. Rather than announcing a new date on which the consultation would close, TfL said instead: "We remain keen to hear your views on our plans for a temporary bridge and will continue to engage about this scheme over the coming weeks." [ emphasis added] However, since then, TfL apparently chose a new end-date of 5 April, so if you were intending to submit your feedback but hadn't yet got around to doing so, tough luck - it's too late. The consultation page has now been updated with this summary: Rather than publish any useful details of what was actually said during the webinar, or any of the questions that were asked and ignored answered, TfL has simply added a link to 'Hammersmith Bridge webinar' - which is a PDF of a set of worthless, uninformative PowerPoint slides, most of which feature nothing more than a title and a picture.
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Post by rm1422 on May 29, 2020 13:19:18 GMT
I noticed this afternoon that more than a year after Hammersmith Bridge shut, some of the Castlenau terminating 485's still display Hammersmith on the front blind. SE286 doing the honours today.
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