As London plans to blow about £185 million on a “garden bridge” across the Thames, Paris has found a better option.
A two mile stretch of the Georges Pompidou expressway will be closed to traffic. This is the major road that runs along the north bank of the Seine from Pont de la Concorde to the Arsenal Basin near Bastille. It is the equivalent of the Embankment in London.
As it happens the Embankment between Westminster and Blackfriars is almost exactly two miles. It could be closed to traffic, have a wide cycle lane and and still have room for a two mile long park on the Thames – a riparian High Line. City workers would have an enviable walk to and from the West End. London mayors like to leave their mark on the city and this is a project that Sadiq Khan could be proud of,
The garden bridge is to cross the Thames between Temple tube station and the National Theatre. It will not have escaped your attention that this is midway between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges. The former is 300 yards and the latter 200 yards away so it will serve no practical purpose. My bet is that SK will pull the project. Then he needs to commit to my modest proposal.
I do hope that he does pull it. The bridge is a waste of public money, will serve no useful purpose and the argument about regenerating the South Bank is irrelevant as it has been rather successfully regenerated already.
Well said! Unfortunately there is the Joanna Lumley Factor (the JLF) which tends to trump common sense. With any luck Sadiq Khan can resist her blandishments.
I hope your Great Trudge, that’s how Paddy L-F referred to his walk, continues successfully.
(In case you don’t know, Francis is walking from London to Istanbul. He is on the Greek leg next month.)