A £1million redesign of roads leading up to Putney Bridge has been described by frustrated residents and businesses as a “disaster”.

Locals said Wandsworth Council’s overhaul of the junctions of Putney High Street with Putney Bridge Road and Lower Richmond Road, by Putney Bridge, had made congestion in Putney worse in its bid to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists, says PutneySW15.com.

Residents claim that the redesign had left Putney Bridge Road and Lower Richmond Road persistently gridlocked, and pushed traffic onto side roads. They said that although Putney had long-standing issues with congestion, which had worsened with the closure of Hammersmith Bridge to vehicles in 2019, the redesign had made the issue far worse.

Locals spoke of the havoc it was wreaking on their daily lives, leaving people late for work or school, others reluctant to leave their homes and potential visitors avoiding the area. They felt the saga had been drawn out by the Labour-run council’s initial unwillingness to admit the redesign had not worked as hoped.

The scheme was first put forward under the council’s old Conservative administration and adopted by Labour when it took control of the authority in 2022. It was completed in late 2024.

But the data used to model the redesign was collected just before the end of the Covid-19 lockdown in July 2021 and incorrectly assumed Hammersmith Bridge would reopen by 2026.

The works saw a new cycle lane and bus lane added, new traffic lights installed to allow cyclists to cross a few seconds before vehicles, some pedestrian islands removed and others made bigger. The approach from Lower Richmond Road to the bridge was reduced from two lanes to one, while only one lane of traffic can turn onto the bridge from Putney Bridge Road.

While the changes were meant to have a neutral impact on traffic, a council report admitted in November they had resulted in unexpected congestion, following an independent review, which had left the authority “extremely concerned”. This is despite data showing the volume of traffic using Putney Bridge was lower in 2024 than in 2018, before Hammersmith Bridge closed.

The report revealed the council had already spent £100,000 on top of the approved £835,000 budget for the redesign, and expected to fork out another £250,000 on adjusting it.

Locals had been complaining long before the review that the scheme had left Putney worse off, even coming together as an action group to demand change, with Conservative councillors raising their concerns in meetings.

The council began making adjustments to the junctions in a bid to ease the situation earlier last year, and it is working with Transport for London (TfL) to complete bigger changes. But residents are sceptical these measures will be enough.

Click HERE for the full article on PutneySW15.com.

(Picture: Mapillary)