Hammersmith Bridge Rally Meets with Counter-protest

Supporters and opponents of full reopening gather in Barnes on Saturday

Crowds gathered by Hammersmith Bridge on Saturday

January 25, 2026

A large crowd of people gathered near the southern end of Hammersmith Bridge this Saturday (24 January) after a riverside MP organised a “Re-Open Hammersmith Bridge” rally.

Fleur Anderson, who represents the Putney constituency for Labour, was joined in Barnes by Wandsworth Council leader Simon Hogg, and London Assembly Member Leonie Cooper. The assembly heard demands for a timetable for restoring full vehicle access including buses and a reconvening of the Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce, a body set up by the last government to push forward the project, which hasn’t met for over a year.

A significant proportion of the people at the event were part of a counter demonstration by those against a return of motor vehicles and for keeping the bridge exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists. This event had been organised by a coalition of groups including the London Cycling Campaign, Living Streets, Mums for Lungs and Wheels for Wellbeing. Banners and placards in favour of both points of view were in evidence on the day.

Ms Anderson has been campaigning for a full reopening since the bridge closed six years ago. She claims that it has blighted parts of her constituency, particularly Putney High Street, with consistent and severe congestion. Wandsworth Council says its figures show a 25% increase in traffic on Putney High Street during the morning rush.

The Putney MP also says that local roads have becoming more dangerous due to traffic congestion, particularly lorries being displaced into the Putney area due to the bridge closure, citing fatalities that occurred in her constituency in 2024 and 2025.

She told a BBC reporter who was at the rally, “Everywhere I go this is what people ask me about, because of the impact on the buses. Six bus routes were cut when this bridge was closed. That makes a big difference on Putney High Street, going through Putney which is very congested.”

Putney MP Fleur Anderson had organised the rally. Picture: BBC

She added that she was hold a monthly bus crisis taskforce meeting and that the Hammersmith Bridge closure was the context for other issues such as traffic light rephasing and roadworks causing local roads to be blocked up. Supporters of the bridge not fully reopening argue that traffic, as defined by the number of motor vehicle journeys, has declined since the bridge was shut to cars and buses.

A Department for Transport Spokesperson said, "We recognise the disruption caused by the closure of the bridge, and so far we have provided £17m of funding, including £4.7m in March 2025 to keep the bridge open for walking and cycling."

Opponents of a full reopening making their presence felt at the rally

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 bridge is one of the most expensive in the UK to repair, due to its Grade II* listed status and complex cast-iron structure and current estimates are that the cost will be £250 million. Responsibility for funding is split between Hammersmith & Fulham Council, Transport for London, and the Department for Transport, and none have yet committed to the full amount required. A 2025 FOI request confirmed that funding delays remain tied to disagreements between government departments and agencies over who should pay and even supporters of a full reopening like Ms Anderson agree that this is likely to be a decade away at best.