Renovations to East London Bridge

More renovations are taking place to Twelvetrees Crescent bridge in East London. The structure spans Bow Creek and the River Lea. The road Connects the areas of Bromley-By-Bow in Tower Hamlets and Star Lane in Newham.

The bridge, built in 1872 by civil engineer Peter William Barlow for the Imperial Gaslight and Coke Company for access to their now-closed Gas Works, which opened the following year. On June 10th 1996, the bridge became a grade II historically listed structure.

This is not the first time that the bridge has gone through renovations. In July 2011, a ramp was added for access to get from the bridge to the Lea Valley canal below. The following year work was done to improve the ramp, as more people were using the canal to travel to the nearby Olympic venues.

The only bus that travels over the bridge, route 323, is being temporarily diverted at instructed times whilst the works commence. This is significant as it is the only bus route to serve Prologis Park, the local business and industrial area.

Speaking to local Tower Hamlets resident Mohammed Shahir about the renovation, he said that this was a “very frustrating time” but also described them as “much needed” as it will allow for better access to Prologis Park.

“If you take the bus then you’ll be experiencing delays. It’s a very frustrating time, especially in the morning and afternoon for schoolkids going to and coming back from school. Not to mention people working in the business park that can’t use that bus stop at all now due to the diversion”.

– Mohammed Shahir (local resident)

The 323 is set to have continue to have ‘when instructed’ diversions up until 31st October, the original planned end date of the works to the bridge. However, Covid-19 has meant that works have decreased, meaning that as of right now, it is still unclear whether or not that deadline will be met.