Wandsworth Bridge's summer works are done, weeks before the end-of-October target. The bus lane is now permanent, with stepped cycle tracks and wider pavements.

The works on Wandsworth Bridge are finished. Wandsworth Council said on Friday 2 October that the job had come in “under budget and weeks ahead of schedule”. (Wandsworth Council, 2 October 2026)

The works began on Tuesday 26 May and were due to end in late October, weather permitting. The bridge stayed open to two-way traffic throughout. (Wandsworth Council, Wandsworth Bridge works)

The council has not published the budget or the final cost, so “under budget” cannot be checked against a figure.

What was done

The council’s announcement lists the finished work:

  • repairs to the bridge deck, and waterproofing beneath it
  • wider, resurfaced pavements on both sides
  • a stepped cycle track on each side of the bridge
  • a resurfaced carriageway
  • changes to the junction and bus stop at Jews Row

The scheme page adds new contraflow cycling on Jews Row. In September the council also said it had got TfL to add a new yellow box on the roundabout to help traffic flow. (Wandsworth Council, 4 September 2026)

The main purpose was structural. The council’s FAQ says repairing and waterproofing the deck stops water getting in and cuts the risk of corrosion. It describes this as the follow-on to two earlier phases of maintenance. (Wandsworth Council, Wandsworth Bridge works FAQ)

The layout is now permanent

The bridge keeps the arrangement drivers have used since a 2024 trial. According to the FAQ, the permanent layout is:

  • one northbound bus lane
  • one northbound lane for general traffic
  • one southbound lane for general traffic
  • segregated cycle tracks on both sides, with wider pavements

The trial was run with Hammersmith and Fulham and TfL. The council says TfL found it would not have “an unduly adverse impact” on the wider road network, based on monitoring of traffic and bus performance. That is why it was made permanent.

The FAQ also explains why the second northbound traffic lane is not coming back. The bridge used to have two because northbound drivers could turn left, right or go ahead at the junction on the Fulham side. Hammersmith and Fulham’s Clean Air Neighbourhood schemes banned those left and right turns, and both schemes are now permanent.

Timeline of Wandsworth Bridge. The first bridge opened as a toll crossing on 26 September 1873. Today's bridge opened in September 1940, painted grey as wartime camouflage. A northbound bus lane and cycle lane were trialled in 2024. Works began on 26 May 2026, the council said the western side was complete on 4 September, and it announced the works finished on 2 October, ahead of the end of October target.
From toll crossing to this year's works, from the council's own releases and scheme pages. Graphic by Wandsworth News.
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What did not happen, or has not been said

The scheme page promised a week of full overnight closures, 9pm to 5am, near the end of the programme to resurface the road. It said “a date is to be confirmed”. No date was ever published there, and the page still carries that wording from its 3 September update.

The completion announcement lists carriageway resurfacing among the finished work, but it does not say when that was done. Ten nights of closures on the bridge’s south side and on Bridgend Road were booked to end on 30 September in the council’s roadworks bulletin for the week of 28 September.

The bridge does not appear in the council’s roadworks bulletin for the week of 5 October. TfL’s live road disruption register carried no entry for it when we checked on 4 October.

A bridge with some history

The bridge carries the A217 between Wandsworth and Fulham and is maintained by Wandsworth Council. According to the council:

  • the first Wandsworth Bridge opened as a toll crossing on 26 September 1873
  • it was demolished in 1937, after a Royal Commission found it too narrow and weak for growing traffic and buses
  • today’s bridge, designed by Sir Thomas Peirson Frank, opened in September 1940
  • it was painted grey on opening, as camouflage during the air raids of the Second World War

What it means for you

If you drive, nothing changes from the layout you have used since 2024. There is still one lane each way for general traffic, plus the northbound bus lane.

If you cycle, you now have a stepped cycle track on each side of the bridge. On Jews Row you can now cycle against the one-way flow.

If you walk, both pavements are wider.

If you queue at the south end, the bridge works were not the only cause. The council’s FAQ says it is lobbying TfL for yellow box junctions at Swandon Way and Wandsworth Roundabout. It is also pressing the Government, TfL and Hammersmith and Fulham to reopen Hammersmith Bridge, which it says puts extra pressure on the remaining crossings.

Wandsworth Bridge Road, on the far side, is in Hammersmith and Fulham, and Wandsworth Council says it has no say over it. Albert Bridge, downriver, is still shut to vehicles. Our Wandsworth roadworks page has this week’s closures across the borough.

Sources