A new cycle and pedestrian bridge over the Thames between Canada Water and Canary Wharf is moving ahead.
Transport for London is ready to go out into the market this autumn to find a contractor who can design and build the link.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan promised the bridge in his Transport Strategy and said the idea is “progressing at pace”.
Arcadis has already been appointed to work up costings which have been provisionally estimated at between £88m and £100m. However, any figure is likely to rise when new road junctions are taken into consideration. The cost is covered in the Mayor’s business plan but Mr Khan would also be seeking third party funding.
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A consultation will take place in early 2018, followed by a planning and build process that should deliver the link in two or three years. He added that “if a bidder can do it sooner, their application may be considered more favourably”.
The artist’s impression of the bridge that always features was conceived four years ago by reForm Architects and engineers Elliott Wood. The Mayor said he was aware of “an existing design which is a number of years old”, but that “there may now be innovations which are quicker, cheaper and higher quality”.
“This is a much-needed walking and cycling connection between two key opportunity areas, the Isle of Dogs and Canada Water,” he said.
Garden Bridge wound up
The news comes as the charity behind the Garden Bridge wound up the project, unable to continue without the Mayor’s guarantee. The controversial link, which was seen as elitist and unnecessary, had been stumbling for months on the back of general unpopularity and condemnation of the funding from an independent review.