Rally Will Demand Hammersmith Bridge Reopening
Fleur Anderson calls for big turnout ahead of taskforce meeting
Fleur Anderson (second from right) campaigning previously on Hammersmith Bridge
January 11, 2026
Fleur Anderson MP is calling on residents to attend a rally this month at Hammersmith Bridge ahead of a key meeting which will discuss its future.
Along with Simon Hogg, the Leader of Wandsworth Council, she will be asking people to join her for a public action calling for the bridge to be fully reopened to motor traffic.
It is hoped that a large turnout will provide a photo opportunity which can be used to show the level of local support for the full restoration of the bridge.
The event attendees are asked to assemble at noon on the Barnes side of the bridge on Saturday 24 January for the photo with speakers expected between 2-3pm.
Anyone intending to turn up is invited to register on Eventbrite.
The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce is due to reconvene after not having met for over a year and before that not meeting for three years. Ms Anderson says the event will demand agreement on funding, repairs to fix the bridge and restoration of bus routes.
There is no publicly announced date for the next Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce meeting. In a parliamentary written answer on 21 October 2025, Transport Minister Simon Lightwood stated that the Government planned to hold another meeting “in the near future,” but did not give a date.
The six-year closure of the bridge is seen as a contributory cause of the high levels of congestion being experienced in Putney. Wandsworth Council says its own figures show a 25% increase in traffic on Putney High Street during the morning rush. Opponents of reopening say that crossings of most bridges over the Thames have fallen since Hammersmith Bridge closed which they contend is a result of traffic evaporation.
The most recent estimates for the cost of a full reopening put it at over £250 million and there was some hope that this could be funded by a new ‘Structures Fund’ announced last year by the Labour government. However, no announcement has been made on any possibility of Hammersmith Bridge benefitting from money from this source. Reports suggest there was a heated meeting recently between Sir Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, and the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves at which the Mayor was trying unsuccessfully to make the case for more transport investment in London including Hammersmith Bridge.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council owns the bridge and has met most of the cost of stabilising the bridge, but a funding package needs to be agreed with the DfT and Transport for London (TfL) before major reconstruction can begin. Ms Anderson has previously admitted it could take up to a decade before the bridge fully reopens.
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