It's probable that, at least in the early days when the bridge was fully open to cycles, quite a lot of people chose to stop driving and walk or cycle as around 16,000 people were using the bridge per day hammersmithbridge.org.uk/p/188/displace…

We live in an era of climate change and mounting medical evidence of the harms of air pollution.

Along with congestion - which is too many vehicles and not too few navigable bridges - these are all reasons why policy makers should look to reduce traffic whenever they can.

So 'how can we reopen #HammersmithBridge to traffic' is a miss-statement of the problem. Ergo, it's closures to traffic is not a symbol of a 'nothing works' Britain, though there are plenty of those, including our failure to build affordable homes.

So what is the problem statement for #HammersmithBridge ? I think it's...

'How can we get as many people across the bridge every day as possible?'

Since July 2021, only pedestrians have been able to cross (though bikes could be pushed across).

More recently, since February 2024, cycles have returned to the bridge. These are two important segments.

But by far the most important is the restoration of the bus services.

As Gareth Roberts, leader of Richmond Council recently tweeted, whether or not you want cars back on #HammersmithBridge , restoring the bus service is key. x.com/Gareth_Roberts…

There's a very good reason for Gareth Roberts to focus on restoring the bus services. In Richmond Council's own resident's survey, more than two-thirds of those who used the bridge before its closure to traffic crossed on the bus, not in a car:

So while all the red-blooded petrol-heads, armchair planners, infra-obsessives and 'Britain can't build anything' types are getting in a funk about spending a quarter of a billion quid to bring a few thousands cars back, the real problem is reconnecting the bus services.

Of course, on a fragile old beauty like #HammersmithBridge , this is a hard, but not impossible, problem to solve.

Credit to London Liberal Democrats they've been proposing that new legislation on pedicabs is used to instate a licensed pedicab link. mylondon.news/news/transport…

London Liberal Democrats So, as a local and some-time transport, energy and climate wonk, my conclusion is that most people have been asking the wrong question.

I suspect traffic will never return to #HammersmithBridge . This is partly political, partly economic, but mostly due to civil engineering.

So rather than waste column inches and angry social media posts this 5th anniversary, why not ask the real question:

'How many people can we get over #HammersmithBridge each day'. Walking, cycling, wheeling, on pedicabs?'

The answer might well be more people than before.