London Bridge is closing down, closing down, closing down…
Whilst plenty of London’s bridges are getting a literal glow-up at the moment, London Bridge is taking a little break from the river crossings game. The City of London have announced that London Bridge will be closing to traffic between March 16th and the end of October 2020, in order for vital waterproofing work to be conducted. [Header image: Keith Ellwood, via Flickr]
London Bridge (this one, at least) has been in use since 1973, and in that time, no upgrade to the waterproofing and bearings has been undertaken – so the update is long overdue. Sadly, this necessitates restricting the amount of traffic heading across the bridge whilst work commences, which means that private cars, vans, lorries, motorbikes, and private coaches won’t be allowed to cross it.
If you’re aboard a London bus, tour bus, licensed taxi, bicycle, or using the power of your own two feet, however, you’ll be permitted to cross the bridge, so it won’t be entirely devoid of life. Some caveats, though: buses won’t be stopping on the bridge as the stops will be closed, there will be only one cycle lane in each direction, and one of the pavements will be closed until August. Work will run from March until May on the western side of the bridge, and from June to October on the eastern side.
Any forbidden traffic will be redirected across Tower Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, although TfL are warning that both are likely to be extremely busy because of the London Bridge closure. There’s no word on how this will affect London’s annual autumn Sheep Drive, but since the tradition dates back some 900 years, I suspect they’re unlikely to just follow the diversion…
You can find out more about the closure and alternative routes on the TfL website.