Tower Bridge, London’s iconic bridge will be shut for three months starting from October. The iconic landmark is due for some much-needed repair. Despite the fact that about 21,000 vehicles use the bridge daily, City of London Corporation has said it is very necessary to do so.
The bridge hasn’t had any repairs for 35 years and it is due. The first part of the work shall be on refurbishing the waterproofing of the archways on the approach to the bridge and then the timber decking will be replaced along with road and walkway resurfacing. The bridge will remain open to pedestrians the entire time with the exception of three weekends.
Tourists will be happy if they want to get their holiday photo on the bridge, but those Londoners who rely on the crossing daily will have to find an alternative route. This latest is yet another delay for the congestion that London has been suffering during the construction of the new cycling highways in the city.
Now that part of London’s road reconstruction is finally nearing completion and traffic will be returning to normal, it will be back up yet again with this new disruption.
Although it is clear the work needs to be done, it just highlights the fact that London should have more river crossings in its busy metropolis. Paris by comparison has almost twice as many crossings, and it serves to keep traffic flowing. Once the bridge is closed, Londoners might find that they will want to perhaps utilize public transit a bit more, or even take a holiday to avoid the congestion in the streets during that time.
