The 1,200-foot-long footbridge designed to stretch across the River Thames in London was scrapped today by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. In a letter addressed to Lord Davies of Abersoch, chair of the Garden Bridge Trust, Khan announced that he would not provide the finances needed to construct the bridge. He wrote, “I have been supportive of the Garden Bridge project, both for the benefits it could bring and because the taxpayer would be better off than if it was not built.” However, he continued after consideration the mayor concluded that the project “would expose the London taxpayer to additional financial risk, both with regard to the bridge’s construction and its maintenance.”
Before he made any final decisions, the mayor reviewed the findings of Public Accounts Committee chairman Dame Margaret Hodge’s independent review. Hodge had found the project to be relying too much on public funds instead of private funds—the original project called for fundraising to make construction possible. “The total pledged now stands at £69 million … illustrating both the remaining significant gap (over £70 million) and also the risk of further existing pledges being lost,” Khan wrote. The mayor agreed with Hodge’s opinion that public funds would then be needed to pay for remaining portion the project.
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In his letter, he stated his disappointment for the dissolution of the project. “I regret that the significant expenditure of public funds and effort from both public bodies and the Garden Bridge Trust has not led to a situation where I can provide the guarantees requested,” Khan wrote.
Designed to float above the River Thames, the Garden Bridge was imagined by London–based Heatherwick Studio as a refuge from the commotion of the metropolis. The bridge would have stretched across the river, from the top of the Temple underground station on the north bank to the south bank. The project was expected to improve air quality, enhance biodiversity, benefit wildlife, improve foot traffic congestion, and improve the economy by creating jobs, according to the Garden Bridge Trust.