Hammersmith and Fulham (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A petition to stop planned works on a key Hammersmith and Fulham road has gained thousands of signatures, signaling strong community opposition.
Transport for London (TfL) is urged by the change.org petition to stop Hammersmith and Fulham Council from moving forward with its plans for a “meandering” layout on Wandsworth Bridge Road, which it believes would harm traffic and safety.
The goal of the petition, according to Donald Grant, Chair of the Traffic Camera Consulting Group (TCCG), is to show TfL that the public is in favor of “stopping Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s dangerous traffic and bike displacement schemes.”
The petition’s premise is “false,” according to a Hammersmith and Fulham Council representative, who also stated that the local government is “seeking to end a decades-old traffic problem that local residents have asked us to tackle” and is lowering pollution and traffic. Additionally, TfL was contacted for comment.
The local government published the most recent set of proposed improvements to Wandsworth Bridge Road in July. In a pamphlet sent to locals and businesses, Cllr Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, Cabinet Member for Public Realm, stated that the modifications will start the week of August 18 and last for around a month.
Four new raised zebra crossings, new bike rental parking bays, an extended kerb with communal seating, vegetation, and planters in place of the current parklet at the Ryecroft/Bovingdon junction, and business-specific loading bays were also part of the proposal.
The modifications were intended to serve as a component of the larger South Fulham Clean Air Neighbourhood (CAN) project, which also included the installation of cameras on streets east and west of Wandsworth Bridge Road.
However, since then, development has been delayed, most notably because TfL, a statutory consultee because the highway is a part of the Strategic Road Network, was not included in the consultation and design process. Since then, TfL and council executives have continued to discuss the ideas, and the transport authority has offered input.
In the petition, which at the time of writing has been signed by more than 4,500 people, it is stated:
“Hammersmith and Fulham Council are planning to narrow Wandsworth Bridge Road to encourage traffic to use other routes by worsening congestion on this road. They propose to create a ‘meandering’ layout by widening pavements over existing cycle space, which will negatively affect residents, pedestrians and all road users including public transport, cyclists and emergency vehicles.
The changes will increase pollution and harm local businesses, on top of the damage already caused by the two LTNs (Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods) on either side of the road which restricts alternative routes.”
The TCCG, which has previously opposed other aspects of the council’s CAN scheme, states in its petition that it does not think
“the proposed re-design meets TFL’s strategic network management duty, nor the objectives set by the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, the Streetspace for London Programme, Vision Zero, the Healthy Streets Approach and Active Travel England.”
“This also delays buses and puts pedestrians in danger from cyclists, but the council refuses to listen to South West London residents who don’t want the road narrowed or the cycle lanes removed,”
he said.
“Whilst Putney’s MP Fleur Anderson publicly calls for their problems to be resolved, our MP Ben Coleman remains silent, so we needed to show Transport for London that they had public support to stop Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s dangerous traffic and bike displacement schemes.”
A spokesperson for Hammersmith and Fulham Council said:
“The entire premise of this petition is false. To suggest, as the petitioners do in their opening line, that we are deliberately trying to increase congestion on Wandsworth Bridge Road is risible.
The truth is we are reducing congestion and pollution across the entire area, seeking to end a decades-old traffic problem that local residents have asked us to tackle. We appreciate that many non-Hammersmith and Fulham motorists have signed this petition because they object to facing fines if they use our residential roads as cut-throughs.
But local residents are overwhelmingly pleased that there are 15,000 fewer vehicles every day clogging their streets with noise and pollution. With regard to the chicaning of Wandsworth Bridge Road, the data – contrary to the petition’s claims – shows that since the designs were implemented in the autumn of 2024 traffic flow has actually improved, not worsened.
The safety of people lies at the heart of the programme. We are proposing to introduce a series of raised pedestrian crossings to improve safety for pedestrians, notably for people with reduced mobility, wheelchair users and parents of young children with pushchairs, and make our high street more accessible and increase footfall. We believe requiring drivers, notably of HGVs, to slow down and drive more carefully to enable residents to cross the road safely is reasonable.
These are long-standing proposals as part of the programme, which has been developed working with residents, to transform Wandsworth Bridge Road from a highway into a high street for local people and businesses.”
The installation of a number of parklets and planters on Wandsworth Bridge Road by Hammersmith and Fulham Council last year as part of the larger South Fulham CAN program provoked discussion about their potential effects on safety.
Fulham SW6, a local blog, reports that a woman who was riding a Lime bike last week got stuck between a truck and a parklet, narrowly avoiding injury.
According to the publication, council officers attended the area on Monday, December 8, to conduct an assessment and compile a report. After this is finished, a statement will be released. Earlier this year, the LDRS reported that a planter had been struck by passing cars at least twice, causing damage. Since then, more incidences have been reported.
The project, which includes planters as well as improvements like new kerblines and better crossings, “will reduce congestion on the road, manage vehicle speeds more effectively and create a safer, cleaner and greener environment while increasing opportunities for businesses,” according to a council spokesperson at the time.
What alternatives has the council proposed to reduce traffic instead?
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has not detailed specific indispensable business reduction measures in response to the Wandsworth Bridge Road solicitation, but general council strategies emphasize enhanced public transport, cycling structure and demand operation over physical narrowing.
Advanced machine precedence and signal optimization to speed up services along the A217 corridor, reducing private vehicle reliance without lane reductions. Expanded cycle lanes and safer junctions without inching on expressway space, paired with better enforcement of parking and delivery rules.
TfL’s intervention prioritizes maintaining strategic road inflow amid Hammersmith Bridge check, suggesting council druthers may include demesne- and- lift creation or LTN adaptations in bordering areas to divert rat- running without choking the main roadway.