Hopes were rising that Hammersmith Bridge could re-open after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said money for repairs could come from a new £1 billion Structures Fund.
Re-opening the 138-year-old bridge, which has been closed to motor vehicles for six years, would be a major boost to this area of west London.
Ms Alexander secured £1 billion for the Structures Fund from Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Spending Review last week.
Part of its aim is to repair some 3,000 bridges, tunnels and flyovers across the country.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council owns Hammersmith Bridge but the cost of repairing it has spiralled, to more than £250 million at the start of last year.
“There are some structures that because of their age, their nature, are simply too expensive for the individual local authority to bear the entire burden of reparing them,” Ms Alexander told LBC Radio.
“So, the Structures Fund was announced by Rachel Reeves in the Spending Review last week.
“We need to work through the details of how that Structures Fund is going to operate.
“It may be the case that Hammersmith Bridge and repair work there could be funded through that Structures Fund.
“But we are also going to have to look at the criteria of that fund, whether there needs to be local contribution from the asset owner, whether there is a clear and costed plan for work and whether there is a clear delivery path.”
Pressed whether Hammersmith Bridge could benefit from the Structures Fund, Ms Alexander added: “I can’t confirm that as of today.”
The bridge, a Grade II*-listed iron structure that opened in 1887, used to carry about 22,000 vehicles a day and seven bus routes.
It was shut in April 2019 by Hammersmith and Fulham council after safety sensors on the bridge, which links Hammersmith and Barnes, detected “dangerous micro-fractures” in the pedestals that hold the suspension system in place.
It partly reopened in July 2021 to pedestrians and cyclists.
Since 2019, drivers have had to divert via Chiswick or Putney bridges.
The repairs could be funded with the Government, City Hall and Hammersmith and Fulham Council making contributions.
But talks with the previous Tory governments failed to reach an agreement.
As part of the Structures Fund, ministers also pledged £590 million for the Lower Thames Crossing to cut delays at the Dartford Tunnel.
But Treasury minister Emma Reynolds struggled on the morning media round for the Government on Monday, referring to the “Dartmouth Tunnel” and unable to say how much the Lower Thames Crossing would cost or where it would start and end.
The Chancellor outlined a raft of infrastructure investment as part of last week’s Spending Review, including £15 billion for transport projects in the regions.
But she sparked a warning from Sir Sadiq Khan not to adopt an “anti-London” approach as the Government seeks to rebalance the UK’s economy after the capital did not get funding for some key transport projects.
The Mayor also warned that the Met Police may have been left with insufficient funding which could lead to fewer police officers.
He did gain a four-year settlement for Transport for London worth £2.2 billion.
