Thousands of Kensington and Chelsea residents have demanded that the restoration of Albert Bridge is better managed, after its initial closure in February.
An open letter asking for the restoration of Albert Bridge in West London to be completed quicker has gained over 2,000 signatures from residents in the borough who have seen disruptions in the community.
Reopen Albert Bridge Local Residents Group are responsible for the petition, and are made up of residents and businesses from South Chelsea and North Battersea.
Campaign leader, Melis Ongun, 46, said: “The impact goes well beyond business.
“Congestion and standing traffic are worsening air quality on the diverted routes, emergency services are being slowed and vulnerable and disabled residents, who depend on predictable journeys, are among the hardest hit.
“The restoration of Albert Bridge is necessary and is progressing on schedule, so we don’t point the finger at the works themselves.
“The real failure is in how the knock-on effects have been handled.”
Residents of Kensington and Chelsea have been in chaos since the council was left to oversee an £8.5million restoration project of Albert Bridge, which is not expected to re-open until 2027.
The closure followed a discovery of a crack in part of its cast iron structure.
The open letter encourages better management of the project and has listed five demands from the local councils, the Mayor of London and TfL.
Those that have signed are requesting urgent coordinated action, greater transparency about progress, clear information and timelines, effective management of wider traffic impacts and effort to minimize the length of the closure.
Ongun said that TFL are most responsible for the consequences that have followed the closure.
He added: “TfL is responsible for the roads, signals and signage that determine where traffic goes, and its changes and its slow, unresponsive approach have made the impact on residents and businesses far worse than it needed to be.
“We’re calling on TfL to fix this urgently.”
Businesses in the local area have also felt the effects of the disruption.
Pet shop worker, Anthony Snowden, 39, said: “I’ve had customers turn up 45 minutes late to dog grooming appointments due to heavy, diverted traffic.
“I’ve had a lot of customers come in asking me if the bridge will re-open anytime soon.
“Fingers crossed it can open again very soon.”
Natalia Moseley, 23, a barmaid from the Prince Albert pub, said: “I now feel like I prefer being able to walk over the bridge or take a lime bike instead of taking the bus.”
She said she has enjoyed having the bridge temporarily pedestrianised and feels it has encouraged more customers to stop in the pub after a walk and changed how she thinks about travelling to work.
However, Moseley revealed that her colleagues are concerned for their business when the bridge completely closes to all pedestrians for bonfire night celebrations in Battersea Park.
She said: “If the bridge shuts for everyone, then we’re afraid we might not meet our projected sales targets for that weekend as it will be harder for customers to get to the pub.”
This will be the first time the bridge is completely closed.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has since spoken on why the repairs are taking so long.
It said “the project is complex as it requires parts that have to be specially designed rather than bought off the shelf”, and they are unable to provide an official date for when the bridge will be open for traffic once again.
When approached for comment, Cllr Josh Rendall for the RBKC said: “I’m in close contact with campaign groups about the intensive work taking place to reopen Albert Bridge as soon as we feasibly can.
“I thank the campaign groups and all those affected by the closure for their patience while we safely, responsibly and carefully restore this icon of London.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “Following the closure of the bridge, TfL has worked with the borough to adjust traffic light sequencing in the area to help improve issues with congestion.
“Our 24/7 TfL Control Centre monitors traffic in the area to help enable people to move safely and efficiently, but the loss of an important river crossing is continuing to impact vehicle journey times.
“We continue to engage with the council on how best we can support them and the area.”
They added that they have undertaken strategic modelling to better understand the wider impacts of the Albert Bridge closure and identify where signal timing changes may be needed to help ease congestion in the surrounding area.
TfL were also approached for comment on being held responsible by the local residents group.
Featured image credit: Teddie Barrett
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