Residents invited to come and watch the switching on of the floodlights

First arch lit up!

Residents are invited to come and watch the switching on of lights which will illuminate Putney Bridge at night. The switch on will take place at approximately 9.15pm on Thursday 29 August.

Wandsworth Council has installed low energy eco-friendly LED floodlights on the side of the bridge and under all the arches to illuminate the historic Grade II Listed bridge, so it can be seen in all its glory during the hours of darkness.

The Mayor of Wandsworth Cllr Jane Cooper will switch on the lights. Cabinet member for transport Paul Ellis will also attend. He said: “This is the culmination of a lot of hard work after residents and businesses in the area asked us to look at lighting up Putney bridge at night.

“This is a historic and iconic London bridge and we agreed that this important gateway to our borough should be lit so people can see just how stunning the bridge looks under the cover of darkness. This has been a project that has had a few technical challenges along the way but it is absolutely fantastic that these have been overcome and we are now in a position to switch on these lights and showcase our beautiful bridge.”

He added: “Lighting the bridge was one of our manifesto commitments and will be a huge boost to Putney’s night time economy, especially to businesses based on the riverside. This is all about generating interest in Putney and transforming how the area looks in the evening.”
The project has been funded using cash levied from housing and property developers in the area who are required to pay contributions towards neighbourhood infrastructure improvement schemes. Others set to benefit from this fund are rail passengers in East Putney who could soon see their journey times reduced as plans advance to open a second entrance to Putney Station via a footbridge onto the platforms at Oxford Road.

Other recent improvements at Putney Bridge saw new pavements and a new road surface laid as part of repairs protect it against water penetration. Previous repairs also saw its attractive ornate Victorian cast-iron lamp columns fully refurbished and restored and fitted with modern LED lights to make them shine brighter.

August 23, 2019