Wandsworth Bridge closes fully from 21 September and Hammersmith Bridge stays shut to cars. 115 works are permitted across the borough this week, 27 live now.

Hammersmith and Fulham is three and a half miles across and has two river crossings in trouble at once. That is the shape of driving here, and it has been for six years. The Fulham roadworks on this page, the gas mains, the lane closures and the Wood Lane rebuild, all sit on top of a road network that already has less capacity than the map suggests.

The council publishes a Network Activity Bulletin every week, listing every permitted work in the borough by street, promoter and date. The current edition, week commencing 15 August 2026, carries 115 entries, of which 27 were live on 16 August. Forty-six of the 115 involve a full road closure. Cadent Gas holds 28 of the permits and Thames Water 24, which tells you most of what is happening under these streets is utility work rather than highway improvement.

The two bridges

Hammersmith Bridge remains closed to motor traffic, and has been since August 2020, when micro-fractures were found in the cast iron pedestals of the 1887 suspension bridge. It reopened to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic in 2021, and in April 2025 the main carriageway itself reopened after a £2.9 million redecking paid for by the Department for Transport. There are now three lanes across it: cyclists north, cyclists south, and a two-way pedestrian path, with the outer footways for walkers only. E-scooter and wheelchair users can cross. Cargo bikes are being trialled to shuttle older and disabled residents.

The council says it has spent £48 million on the bridge since August 2020. It has submitted a bid to the DfT’s Structures Fund for Phase 2 critical repairs, which it describes as necessary to keep the bridge open even to active travel and to river traffic beneath. A further £4.7 million has already been granted for work on the hangers that connect the deck to the suspension chains. No date has been set for reopening to cars, and the council and the DfT are still, in the council’s own words, “considering a range of options and engineering solutions for the long-term future of the bridge”. Treat any reported reopening date as speculation until it appears on the council’s bridge page.

Wandsworth Bridge is the bigger short-term problem. Wandsworth Council is carrying out works on the north side, the Hammersmith and Fulham end, and its permits run in three stages: multi-way signals on Wandsworth Bridge Road between Townmead Road and the bridge from 27 July to 30 September, lane closures on the bridge itself from 27 July to 21 September, and then a full closure of the bridge from 21 September to 30 September 2026.

That matters because with Hammersmith Bridge shut to cars, Wandsworth Bridge and Putney Bridge carry the traffic that would otherwise cross at Hammersmith. For ten days at the end of September, south Fulham loses its most direct road route across the river, and Putney Bridge and the A3220 through Chelsea are the diversions.

What is dug up right now

Chart showing how long each live road scheme in Hammersmith and Fulham runs, from Hammersmith Bridge through to short gas main closures in Fulham
Works live in the borough on 16 August 2026, plotted to the end date on their permit. Dates from the council's Network Activity Bulletin for the week commencing 15 August 2026.

Cadent Gas is replacing mains across south Fulham, and this is the cluster residents will notice most. Full closures were in force on 16 August at Star Road (North End Road to Sun Road, until 24 August), Lysia Street and Meadowbank Close (until 21 and 19 August), Holyport Road and Woodlawn Road at the Lysia Street junction (until 17 August), Novello Street off Parsons Green Lane (until 17 August) and Parsons Green itself, from the Ackmar Road junction to the YMCA, until 26 August. The programme is not finished: further Cadent permits are already granted for Aldbourne Road and Aycliffe Road in October, and Star Road again in late October.

Wood Lane is the borough’s own long build, and it is the council rather than a utility doing it. A contra-flow between the Depot Road and Ariel Way junctions ran to 18 August, lane closures on the southbound side to 20 August, and northbound lane closures between numbers 195 and 235 run to 24 September, with more planned through September and a further contra-flow booked for January 2027. If you drive to Westfield or White City, assume Wood Lane will be restricted in some form for the rest of the year.

Macfarlane Road in Shepherd’s Bush has had its northbound entrance closed since 27 May and the permit runs to 23 September. Shepherd’s Bush Green has convoy working at the Uxbridge Road junction until 28 August. On the TfL network, the A40 Westway eastbound exit slip to the Northern Roundabout has been closed since August 2025 and is permitted until 4 September 2026.

Key routes, and what to do instead

The borough has four roads that carry almost everything, and all four are Transport for London’s rather than the council’s: the A4 through Hammersmith as the Talgarth Road, Great West Road and flyover; the A40 Westway across the north; the A3220 West Cross Route down the eastern edge; and West Cromwell Road into Kensington. The council maintains everything else.

  • Crossing the river. Putney Bridge and Wandsworth Bridge are the only road crossings from this borough, and Wandsworth Bridge shuts for ten days from 21 September. Chiswick Bridge and Battersea Bridge are the next options either side.
  • East to west. The A4 through Hammersmith is the through route and the flyover skips the Broadway gyratory entirely. It has no exit for Fulham, so for anywhere south of the Broadway you come off at the roundabout and take Fulham Palace Road.
  • North to south inside the borough. There is no good road route. Wood Lane, Shepherd’s Bush Road, Fulham Palace Road and North End Road are the chain, and it has works on it somewhere almost permanently. The 220 bus runs the whole length of it and is usually faster than driving it.
  • Parking at a station. No tube station in the borough has a station car park, and the streets around Fulham Broadway, Parsons Green and Hammersmith are controlled parking zones during the working day. Driving to the tube here is not a realistic plan; walking, cycling or the bus is.
  • Clean Air Neighbourhood. South Fulham has a camera-enforced through-traffic scheme. If you are driving into the streets between Wandsworth Bridge Road and the river and you are not a permit holder, check the council’s Clean Air Neighbourhood page before you set off rather than after the penalty notice arrives.

How to check before you travel

The council’s own weekly bulletin is the most complete source, and it is a PDF linked from the H&F roadworks page. It lists proposed as well as current works, which is the part most maps miss. For live conditions on the four TfL roads, use TfL’s road status.

One caveat that applies to every date on this page: a permitted end date is a permission, not a promise. Utility works overrun routinely, and the bulletin reissues weekly with revised dates. Where a closure matters to you, check the current week’s bulletin rather than trusting the date you read here.

If your journey is by rail rather than road, our tube times and fares page has the journey times and what they cost. Roadworks and river crossings feed directly into what people pay for the streets around them, and the White City and Fulham growth areas explain why Wood Lane is being rebuilt.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hammersmith Bridge open?

Not to motor traffic, and it has not been since August 2020. It is open to pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair and e-scooter users, and the main carriageway itself reopened to them in April 2025 after a £2.9 million redecking. No reopening date for cars has been set.

When does Wandsworth Bridge close?

Wandsworth Council’s permit closes the bridge fully from 21 September to 30 September 2026. Lane closures and multi-way signals on the approach have been in place since 27 July and run to 21 and 30 September respectively.

Why is Parsons Green closed?

Cadent Gas is replacing gas mains. The closure runs from the Ackmar Road junction to outside the YMCA building and is permitted until 26 August 2026. It is one of a cluster of Cadent closures across south Fulham this summer.

How many roadworks are there in Hammersmith and Fulham?

The council’s bulletin for the week commencing 15 August 2026 lists 115 permitted works, of which 27 were live on 16 August and 46 involve a full road closure. Cadent Gas holds 28 of the permits and Thames Water 24.

Where can I find the official Hammersmith and Fulham roadworks list?

The council publishes a Network Activity Bulletin as a PDF every week on its roadworks page. It covers utility works, the council’s own highway schemes and proposed future works.

Which roads in the borough does the council not control?

The A4 (Talgarth Road, Great West Road and Hammersmith Flyover), the A40 Westway, West Cromwell Road and the A3220 West Cross Route are all Transport for London’s. Problems on those go to TfL, not the council.

Sources

Roadworks change weekly and permitted end dates move. Check the current bulletin before relying on any date here.