Tower Bridge Closure

Tower Bridge closure

The City of London Corporation is planning major essential maintenance works to Tower Bridge from Saturday 1 October to Friday 30 December 2016.

The works need a full closure of the bridge to all vehicle and cycle traffic from Saturday 1 October 2016 to Friday 30 December 2016. The closure will be in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Why this is happening

The bridge is 122 years old and needs essential structural maintenance so the iconic Grade I listed landmark can continue as a vital London river crossing.

The programme of work will include:

Undertaking major maintenance to the bridge lifting mechanisms
Replacing the timber decking and resurfacing the road and walkways
Replacing expansion joints along the bridge to provide a smooth running surface
Waterproofing the brick arches that form the approach to the bridge
For more information about the works, please visit City of London’s website.

[button link=”https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/towerbridgediversionandimpactmap.pdf” size=“large” icon=”fa-external-link-square” side=”left” target=“blank” color=”b70900″ textcolor=”ffffff”]Download the Tower Bridge closure diversion and traffic impact map in PDF (554KB) [/button]

Driving

[textmarker color=”FFED4D”]Road closures and restrictions[/textmarker]

Tower Bridge closure: from the junction of Tower Bridge Road and Queen Elizabeth Street on the south side, to the traffic lights by the A100 Tower Bridge Road and A1203 East Smithfield junction on the north side.

[list][item icon=”fa-road” ]

Temporary restrictions also include:

Black Horse Court closed eastbound from Great Dover Street to Tabard Street
Pilgrimage Street closed eastbound from Tabard Street to Manciple Street
Mermaid Court closed eastbound from Borough High Street to Tennis Street
No left turn from Newington Causeway onto Southwark Bridge Road
No right turn from Aldgate High Street on to Minories[/item][/list]

Diversion routes

[list][item icon=”fa-road” ]

There are two diversion routes in place, depending on the direction of your travel:

Northbound: your journey will involve crossing over London Bridge from Borough High Street to Monument and east onto Eastcheap or Fenchurch Street
Southbound: your journey will involve crossing over Southwark Bridge from Upper Thames Street, to Southwark Bridge Road/Marshalsea Road and onto Great Dover Street

[/item][/list]

For real-time updates, follow @TfLTrafficNewsor or visit Tfl traffic status tool
[button link=”” size=”large” icon=”fa-twitter” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”466fb7″ textcolor=”ffffff”]@TfLTrafficNews[/button]

Congestion Charge

Tower Bridge is on the boundary route for the Congestion Charging zone – vehicles crossing Tower Bridge don’t have to pay the Congestion Charge.

If you follow the signed diversion in the direction of travel shown on the road signs, you won’t have to pay the Congestion Charge. If you use another route within the Congestion Charge zone on Monday to Friday between 07:00-18:00, you’ll need to pay the Congestion Charge.

Other river crossings, both in and out of the Congestion Charge zone, will be available as normal during the works.

For more information or to pay the charge, visit Tfl Congestion Charge pages.

Walking

[list][item icon=”fa-users” ][/item]

You can walk across Tower Bridge during the works for all but three weekends, when full pedestrian closures are needed. Your journey may take longer as the bridge will be busier than usual.

Closures to pedestrians will be needed from 08:00-22:00 on the weekends of:

Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 November
Saturday 3 to Sunday 4 December
Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 December

[/list]

A cross river ferry service will be running while the bridge is closed to pedestrians. This service will be free of charge; however it is limited in capacity. Alternative routes for pedestrians will be sign posted and a pedestrian walking map will also be available online ahead of the closures.

Buses

There are three bus routes that cross Tower Bridge and will be diverted.

Route 42 will stop running near the south side of Tower Bridge – there will be no service to stops further north during the works
Route 78 will be on diversion via London Bridge and will stop running at Finsbury Circus. There will be no service to stops north of London Wall. Services between inner southeast London and Tower Hill, Aldgate and Liverpool Street will be maintained
Route RV1 is already on partial diversion due to works taking place on Tooley Street. It will be on a full diversion for the duration of the Tower Bridge works and run from Tower Hill via Eastcheap and London Bridge. It will then revert back to an eastbound diversion until February 2018

Visit TFL bus status tool and follow [button link=”http://www.twitter.com/tflbusalerts” size=”large” icon=”fa-twitter” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”466fb7″ textcolor=”ffffff”]@TfLBusAlerts [/button] on Twitter for the latest bus updates.

[button link=”https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/tower-bridge-bus-diversion-map.pdf” size=“large” icon=”fa-external-link-square” side=”left” target=“blank” color=”b70900″ textcolor=”ffffff”]Download the diversion map in PDF or visit Tfl for full details[/button]

Cycling

The bridge will be closed to cyclists and a signed alternative will be in place. We advise that cyclists travel northbound over Southwark Bridge and southbound over London Bridge.

[button link=”https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/tower-bridge-cycle-diversion.pdf” size=“large” icon=”fa-external-link-square” side=”left” target=“blank” color=”b70900″ textcolor=”ffffff”]Download the Suggested alternative routes for cyclists map in PDF[/button] or visit Tfl for full details

Taxis & minicabs

The taxi ranks at London Bridge Station, St Thomas’ Street and Bermondsey Street will operate as normal.

Drivers should follow the signed diversion routes over London Bridge (northbound) and Southwark Bridge (southbound).

For the latest information on how London roads are operating, check before you travel on Tfl traffic status tool and follow [button link=”http://www.twitter.com/TfLTPH” size=”large” icon=”fa-twitter” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”466fb7″ textcolor=”ffffff”]@TfLTPH [/button]

Coaches

Coaches are advised to follow the diversion route and allow more time for their journeys.

Find more information for coach drivers and about coach services.

Dial-a-Ride

Dial-a-ride will operate their usual service and will make alternative travel arrangements for passengers in the affected areas if necessary. For up to date information on accessibility on the capital’s transport network follow @TfLAccess on Twitter.

Deliveries in London

If you make or receive deliveries around Tower Bridge you should talk to your customers and suppliers now to consider if there are changes you need to make to your deliveries or collections. You may want to consider:

Sign up to the TfL road travel update for regular information and advice
Sign up to the TfL Business Engagement Bulletin for monthly information on how TfL are improving transport choices
Find out how other businesses have changed the way they plan deliveries in London.
Find out how other businesses have changed the way they make or receive deliveries during major events in London on the Deliveries in London page.

Information for developers

To supplement our roads API, TFL have released a DATEX version of the Tower Bridge closure, which begins on Saturday 1 October and ends on Saturday 31 December 2016. The DATEX file includes the closure on the main bridge and smaller closures around the diversion route.

You can read more about DATEX II on Tfl’s blog.

Other works in the area

Tooley Street is currently closed eastbound until 2018 to allow Network Rail’s rebuild of London Bridge Railway Station. TfL traffic modelling has indicated that the part closure of Tooley Street does not have a significant impact on delays with Tower Bridge’s closure. With separate diversions of traffic (northbound over London Bridge and southbound over Southwark Bridge) we aim to distribute the load over a wider area and provide backup options in case of incident.

For more information on the works at Tooley Street please visit our Tooley Street travel advice page

Disclaimer: The information is this page is dated on 30th September 2016 and for purpose to inform residents in SE1 and SE16 as part of our aim to inform of local events..

For the latest updates, visit TFL Tower Bridge Closure