Work on the proposed pedestrian/cycle bridge at Rotherhithe is being “paused” which is probably a face-saving admission that it is being cancelled as being unaffordable. With costs rising above £400 million it was always a ludicrously expensive way of providing another river crossing east of Tower Bridge. The alternative of supplying a ferry will now be examined by TfL.
The bridge was strongly opposed by us and by an active local pressure group. See these previous blog posts for more information:
At least the Mayor has stepped back from what would have been yet another example of his financial profligacy, but one has to ask how this project ever saw the light of day. Such projects, rather like HS2, gather their own momentum when they should be killed off as soon as the cost/benefit ratio is obviously inadequate. No doubt we may learn how much money has been wasted on this project sooner or later.
Roger Lawson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London
You can “follow” this blog by clicking on the bottom right.
TfL have spent £13.0m as at 25 May 2019 which excludes any contract termination costs. These costs will no doubt increase in the coming months.
Well that’s better than spending £600 million which is another figure I have seen for the latest projected cost. Better to waste £13m than spend £600m.
I entirely agree. We informed Sadiq Khan of the flawed business case in April 2018 when they had only spent £3.6m. At least common sense has finally prevailed.