Hammersmith Bridge Closure - July/August update
Influencing the future of Hammersmith Bridge
After many months of influencing, encouraging residents to write to TfL and to respond to the Council’s consultation, TfL has listened to us all and has announced that it is reintroducing the 209 to Hammersmith Bridge from 3 August.
This is a great coup for our community that has been plagued not just by the closure of the major artery that is Hammersmith Bridge, but has also suffered a double whammy of having our bus routes changed without consultation.
The 209 will be re-instated to run between Avondale Road and Castelnau, terminating at the junctions with Lonsdale Road. The route will serve Barnes High Street, Church Road and Castelnau along the same route to Hammersmith Bridge. It will run every 8 minutes. In future it will connect with a shuttle service over the bridge taking residents to services on the Hammersmith side. We are waiting for further information about this shuttle from Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
A new route will be introduced between Avondale Road and Putney Bridge Station called the 378 (the current 209 route). It will run every 12 minutes.
We are still waiting for news about the future of Hammersmith Bridge. TfL and Hammersmith and Fulham Council are expecting consultants’ views on the future of the bridge in the next few weeks and we will know more about next steps after the summer. We will keep you posted via our website www.barnes-ca.org, our email newsletter Prospect Plus and Prospect.
What we are doing
Whatever the future of the bridge, it is clear that we face a long period of closure and so need to look at ways to adapt. The BCA has been looking at both practical and creative solutions to get people over the bridge. We are focusing our attention on a number of issues:
· We have partnered with Ginger, a local company focusing on clean transport to offer transport to Hammersmith for more vulnerable residents and a rush hour shuttle service between Castelnau and Hammersmith tube station for commuters. We hoping to start a trial service of our e-pedal taxi in the next couple of weeks.
· We continue to campaign for the installation of temporary Santander docking stations along Castelnau in order to help commuters complete their journey to Hammersmith tube station.
· We have asked Richmond Council to accelerate their plans to reintroduce a dockless bicycle provider. Since the bridge closure, there has been a major increase in the usage of Lime and mobike bicycles in Barnes, although we are outside the companies’ operating areas. We are expecting an announcement on service availability in the coming months.
· We have asked TfL and the Council to look at the phasing of traffic lights at all major junctions and are waiting for the results.
The impact on local businesses
One of the major impacts of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge is that some of our local businesses are seeing a reduction in trade. We are planning an exciting shop local campaign for the autumn to remind residents that they need to use our shops or risk losing them during this period of bridge closure.
We will also ramp up our social media activity through Barnes Day Out to remind residents and neighbours what Barnes has to offer. We will do everything we can to support business owners through the years ahead.