Residents attack ‘nowhere’ bridge for bikes

Boris Johnson faces a battle with Westminster Tories over plans to build a new cycle bridge across the Thames.

Transport chiefs are drawing up plans for a new bridge for cyclists and pedestrians near the site of the new American embassy in Vauxhall.

A huge regeneration project is under way in Nine Elms, with proposals to extend the Tube’s Northern line from Kennington to Battersea. The cycle bridge would potentially run from Nine Elms to St George’s Square in Pimlico, one of west London’s most affluent neighbourhoods.

Local residents today hit out at the plans — calling it a “bridge from somewhere to nowhere”.

The local Westminster Tories claim in a newsletter that they were told by officials that the bridge is needed to overcome the “psychological isolation of living on the far side of the river”.

Westminster councillor Nick Evans said: “Regenerating Nine Elms is a very good thing. But there are serious questions about this bridge and whether it is worth spending £30 million that could be much better spent elsewhere.” Edward Reeve, 69, a property investor living in Pimlico and chairman of the Federation of Pimlico Residents’ Associations, said: “It might come from the US Embassy but where does it go to? It leads to a dog park at the bottom of St George’s Square.”

The Mayor’s deputy mayor for policy and planning, Sir Edward Lister, said: “We are currently exploring options on the exact location of the bridge prior to undertaking a feasibility study on the demand for a bridge.”

He added: “It is intended that the scheme will be largely paid for by private sector funding.”