The City of London Corporation has announced that it will be closing Tower Bridge to traffic so that repairs can be carried out. The closure will begin in October and is expected to last until the end of the year.
The Corporation insists that the closure is necessary for vital repairs as no major works have been done on the bridge for some 35 years. Work will include resurfacing the road and walkways and replacing the timber decking. Archways in the approach to the Bridge will be waterproofed.
It has chosen the last quarter of the year to do the works as this is the quietest time for river traffic – but the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association has countered that the work should have been done in August, the quietest time of the year for road traffic.
Pedestrians will still be able to use the bridge while repairs are carried out, except for some three weekends during the closure period. However, over 20,000 vehicles which use the bridge each day will have to find alternative routes. It is hard to envisage where they could possibly go. Official diversions over Southwark and London Bridges will be signposted, and the congestion charge will be waived for drivers using the diversion – but these two alternative routes will not be able to absorb the extra traffic. Strangely, Transport for London say the closure will cause “minimal” impact.
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