Two Year Delay Likely for Chiswick Park Footbridge

Hoped for relief for Gunnersbury station expected to miss deadline

The long-awaited Chiswick footbridge, which is intended to relieve congestion at Gunnersbury Tube Station, appears to be facing further delays. It is now thought it will be another two years before the structure will be in place.

The footbridge will extend from Chiswick Business Park to Chiswick Park Station, allowing business park employees quick access to a second tube station and thus taking the pressure off Gunnersbury. The local campaign group had hoped it would be up and running by the end of 2017 but Ruth Cadbury MP has told us that it looks like it would take at least two years for the bridge to be installed.

Meanwhile, Hermes, owners of the Chiswick Tower which is above the tube station, are now reluctant to commit to funding a long-awaited extra exit to the station, as they have been given signals that their plans for a residential complex in the tower may not get approval from Hounslow Council planners.

Ms Cadbury, who has recently been chosen to chair the Gunnersbury Station Action Group told Chiswickw4.com that there could be no further pressure on Gunnersbury station and funding for another entrance would have to come from "somewhere".

She said it was vital to push Blackstone (owners of Chiswick Park), as well as TfL and National Rail, to pin down a date to start the installation of the footbridge.

"I share the disappointment of the local residents that the footbridge didn't go in before Building Seven opened. We're told it needs a day when the rail line can be closed for work to begin and this could be next year. Two years is a long time to wait, we've already got residents shut out of Gunnersbury station in the mornings. We need a long term solution but quickly - there can be no further pressure on Gunnersbury station".

The West Chiswick & Gunnersbury Society (WCGS) has previously said overcrowding at Gunnersbury tube station at peak periods is very worrying.

During the morning peak period, TfL staff managing the situation have to hold passengers in a queue and deny them access to the platform to board trains until the way is cleared of exiting passengers. Some people complain they are missing their train because of the delay. On a positive note, S106 funds are now in place to clear some of the clutter in the area.

Full text of the West Chiswick & Gunnersbury Society statement on this matter.

A planning application submitted in 2015 for the scheme was approved at a Planning Committee meeting of Hounslow Council. This was actually the second application approved as the first had expired.

A typical scene of overcrowding at Gunnersbury

The Gunnersbury Station Action Team - a partnership of local residents, business owners, TFL, Network Rail and Hounslow Council, which was set up by Mary Macleod, said last December that funding for the bridge (£4m) was with the Council and "we are hoping that the final legal agreements will be signed any day now.  It should be in place and open by the end of 2017."

It is now very unlikely that this deadline is likely to be met.

The images are from earlier documentation associated with the project.

April 7, 2017