The City of London must “ensure disruption is minimal” according to Lambeth and Southwark’s London Assembly Member as the closure of Tower Bridge this October is announced.
Responding to the news, Florence Eshalomi AM (pictured), said: “Tower Bridge is amongst London’s most iconic landmarks and of course it’s important that we preserve this important part of our heritage.
“Whilst this work is clearly necessary, it’s vital it doesn’t cause chaos on our local roads.
“With the closure of Tooley Street and the recent works for the Cycle Superhighway, we’ve already experienced a level of disruption that we don’t want to see made worse.
“It’s essential that these repairs are delivered to schedule and that the City of London Corporation communicates clearly with road users to ensure disruption is minimal.”
It was officially announced on June 2 that the 122-year-old bridge will shut for three months for vital structural repairs.
The News reported how ferries may be drafted in when the bridge is closed to pedestrians for three weekends to help meet the demand of 40,000 people needing to cross every day.
Nearby Tooley Street is also closed to eastbound traffic until 2018 for Network Rail’s rebuild of London Bridge Railway Station.
Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: “We’ve been working closely with the City of London to minimise the impact of the vital refurbishment of Tower Bridge and to ensure that Londoners have the travel advice they need.
“Our advice to those traveling in the area is to check before they travel and to plan an alternative route or allow more time for their journeys as roads will be busier than usual.”