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A tale of two bridges: Sadiq Khan says Garden Bridge would cost twice as much to abandon as complete but backs Rotherhithe cycle bridge tooSadiq Khan (c) Labour.JPG

A tale of two bridges: Sadiq Khan says Garden Bridge would cost twice as much to abandon as complete but backs Rotherhithe cycle bridge too

Mayor had said he would cancel Garden Bridge project prior to being elected
by Alex Bowden
Wed, May 25, 2016 12:54
36

Sadiq Khan has said it would cost taxpayers twice as much to cancel the controversial Garden Bridge as to complete it. London’s new mayor did however also express support for a proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf.

Designed by Thomas Heatherwick and championed by the actress and Lambeth resident Joanna Lumley, the Garden Bridge scheme has come in for criticism for various reasons including the public cost, the tender process and because cyclists will not be allowed to ride across it.

Sadiq Khan had previously said he would scrap the project if elected as mayor. However, speaking at his first Mayor’s Question time, he revealed that of the £60m of public money committed, £37.7m had already been spent.

Khan said that if the project were scrapped, all of this money would be lost, whereas if it were completed a £20m Transport for London loan would be repaid and the Garden Bridge Trust would also pay £22 million in VAT to the Treasury. The final public cost would therefore be £18 million.

The London Evening Standard reports Khan as saying:

“From the point at which I became Mayor, it was quite clearly in London taxpayers’ financial interest to complete the Garden Bridge project.

“It would simply cost Londoners more to cancel the project now than it would to finish building the Garden Bridge.

“So I will support the building of the Garden Bridge, but I am demanding that the project is made more accessible and open to all Londoners in return.”

Khan did however express support for the proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf. Sustrans has said that a new bike bridge over the Thames in this location would take major pressure off London’s public transport network, a feasibility study published by the charity indicating that it would see 10,200 cycle journeys and 3,000 walking journeys a day.

Khan described the bridge as "a great project that points to the future of river crossings in London."

The mayor was also pressed on whether he would extend the Santander Cycles scheme into Bermondsey and Rotherhithe and said that he would.

London
Garden Bridge
Rotherhithe Bridge
Sadiq Khan
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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36 comments

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jollygoodvelo replied to I love my bike | 8 years ago
0 likes

I love my bike wrote:

ibike wrote:

"It would simply cost Londoners more to cancel the project now than it would to finish building the Garden Bridge."

Hardly a good reason to go ahead with it. Seriously, what has £37.7m been spent on? 

 

Classic falling for the Sunk cost fallacy.

However, there would be no need to spend (£3M?) on maintenance every year if the folly isn't built. Compare that to waiting 50 years for the loan repayments to be paid off. Even the demolition costs to get rid of it, if built.

 

True point on the sunk cost fallacy.  However, what on earth are £3m maintenance costs?  Are they gold-plating the damn thing?

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bikebot replied to jollygoodvelo | 8 years ago
0 likes

jollygoodvelo wrote:

True point on the sunk cost fallacy.  However, what on earth are £3m maintenance costs?  Are they gold-plating the damn thing?

Security. For the oiks.

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to I love my bike | 8 years ago
2 likes
I love my bike wrote:

ibike wrote:

"It would simply cost Londoners more to cancel the project now than it would to finish building the Garden Bridge."

Hardly a good reason to go ahead with it. Seriously, what has £37.7m been spent on? 

 

Classic falling for the Sunk cost fallacy.

However, there would be no need to spend (£3M?) on maintenance every year if the folly isn't built. Compare that to waiting 50 years for the loan repayments to be paid off. Even the demolition costs to get rid of it, if built.

Surely there's also an element of 'moral hazard' to going ahead?

Going ahead because you've been left with a situation where it would cost more to cancel it simply encourages politicians to leave their successors in such a bind repeatedly. Unless someone says 'no' and takes the hit at some point, this will continue to happen. Seems especially annoying given there seem to be some rather large question marks over how these contracts were arranged in the first place.

(Isn't it the same thing that happened with the Millennium Dome, incidentally? At least I remember that being the excuse the Blair government used at one point for flip-flopping and deciding to go ahead with what started as a Conservative idea)

Avatar
Dr_Lex | 8 years ago
2 likes

Did he stop short of blaming Boris for the commitment of such a huge amount of public money to the caprices of a few shlebs?

Avatar
brooksby | 8 years ago
8 likes

This is so thoroughly disgusting: can we make Boris and Joanna Lumley pay for it instead?

How on earth can they spend that much without anything having actually been built, not a survey, not a spade-ful of Earth moved???

Avatar
PaulBox | 8 years ago
5 likes

I hate politicians...

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