New London cyclist bridge finalists unveiled – pictures

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Proposals for a new Thames bridge in London geared specifically to cyclists and pedestrians have been whittled down to four shortlisted designs.

If constructed, the bridge will be the first of its kind in a major city centre, The Guardian reports.

The final four were selected from an initial 74 designs submitted to a competition run by Wandsworth council. The finalist teams are BuroHappold; Bystrup Architecture Design Engineering; and Ove Arup & Partners, which has two shortlisted entries.

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The designs for the bridge, which will link Nine Elms in Wandsworth with Pimlico, all have spiralling staircases and winding ramps to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. Slopes cannot be too steep for cyclists or pedestrians, but the bridge must be high enough to accommodate large boats passing below.

Wandsworth is soliciting feedback on the designs from Londoners before the final decision is made later this year.

The bridge is meant to support growth in Nine Elms, a former industrial centre now being developed with housing and businesses. Wandsworth council claims that the link will be "a genuine contribution to London’s transport infrastructure".

Critics of the bridge claim that its construction would bulldoze one of the few remaining stretches of green space along the banks of the Thames in London. Heather Acton, Westminster’s cabinet member for sustainability and parking, also expressed concern over its impact on traffic.

“Our officers have and continue to express strongly the council’s opposition to the proposed bridge on the grounds of its visual and environmental impact, including the impact that a new bridge would have at a landing site in Westminster, on traffic flows, pedestrian movement and on residential amenity,” she said in March.

Wandsworth insists that the designs ensure that loss of open space is kept to a minimum.

The bridge is expected to cost roughly £40m, £26m of which has already been secured from community infrastructure funds. This price tag pales in comparison to the controversial recent proposal to build a £175m garden bridge across the Thames, which would ban cyclists.

• Exhibitions on the proposals take place on 21 and 22 July at The Gallery on the Corner, Battersea Park Road, London SW8. A second set of exhibitions takes place on 23 and 24 July at Regus Building, 50 Broadway, London SW1.