There are lots of new infrastructure projects, but what about fixing what we already have?

As Rishi Sunak prepares to unveil his first Budget, Chris Blackhurst says we need to get our priorities right

Hammersmith Bridge has been closed to traffic for almost a year (Getty)

Every morning I join the throng wending its way across Hammersmith Bridge. The 133-year-old crossing over the Thames in west London has been closed to vehicles for almost a year after cracks were discovered in its cast-iron frame.

The result is long traffic tailbacks leading to the nearest alternative bridges at Chiswick and Putney; pedestrians forced to use a narrow path which is packed at peak periods; and some businesses on the south side of Hammersmith Bridge forced to shut up shop because of a drop in trade.

It will be like this for at least three years as the bridge is repaired. This is the theory – some say it will take even longer, the most sceptical doubt it may never properly reopen. The bill has already climbed to £125m. Again, some believe that will go higher still.

While it’s true that Hammersmith is just one of several bridges traversing the Thames, and it’s had to close before – notably when the IRA tried to blow it up, twice – and it serves just one part of the capital, the bridge’s closure is nationally symbolic. As the Financial Times points out, while Boris Johnson wants to build a spectacular, 20-mile bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland, a rusting Victorian suspension bridge measuring just 700 feet in London “provides a more telling picture of the challenges the British government face”.

To the talk of a bridge across the Irish Sea can be added other grand, visionary schemes such as HS2, Crossrails 1 and 2, new major roads and rail lines criss-crossing the Pennines. That’s without mention of airport expansion in the southeast, and the addition of electric car charging points everywhere, installation of super-fast 5G broadband capability, construction of a connected network of cycle highways, erection of giant offshore wind farms... the list of transformative mega-projects is long and exciting.

But while we drive ahead with the bold and modern, our existing infrastructure is creaking. Some areas of the country remain under water, the result of the recent heavy rain; as sea-levels rise, tidal barriers are threatened; our highways are clogged and often full of potholes; several railway services are badly overcrowded; energy supply can teeter; school and hospital buildings are in a state of disrepair. I could go on, but you get the picture. This isn’t new stuff, this is wear and tear, this is how we are now.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is due shortly to reveal details of a promised £100bn infrastructure investment. It will be welcome and represents a positive sea change in attitude. At last, a government is talking about making radical improvements and is prepared to spend serious money.

Hammersmith Bridge should be demolished and completely rebuilt. But that isn’t our way: our national default position is one of muddling through, of getting by

We need, though, to not get carried away. There’s a massive job to be done regarding the infrastructure we’ve already got.

Take Hammersmith. Anyone using that bridge during the past decade – and I mean decade, and could probably go back even longer – could see its decline. The rusting was visible, as were the holes in the flimsy board patching up the walkways and the nails holding down strips of asphalt. It was obvious this was an edifice in urgent need of care and attention and, as detailed inspection discovered, dangerously so.

Things got so bad that, towards the end, buses were restricted to only one at a time on the bridge. Workers in hi-vis jackets were stationed at either end to count them on and off – quite why that was necessary in an age of electronic communication was a mystery, but it added to the sense of neglect leading to possible catastrophe.

As with so many pieces of infrastructure in Britain, it was never clear who was responsible for the bridge, who actually owned it and who would fund its repair. Transport for London operated the bridge, but it belongs to Hammersmith & Fulham Council. Based on the north side, Hammersmith & Fulham is firmly Labour, while the council on the south side, Richmond, switches between Tory and the Liberal Democrats.

Hammersmith & Fulham struggles with the idea that it should pay for the bridge to be refurbished, to benefit the folk in Richmond who are not its voters. Add to that the bridge is Grade II-listed and you have a fine mess, ideal for someone not taking charge. Unfortunately, recipes such as this are replicated up and down the land.

Ideally, the bridge should be demolished and completely rebuilt. My own view? I don’t care if it harks back to Queen Victoria and its design should therefore be preserved. The truth is it was built in a different age, when there were not buses and cars. Knock it down, and build a 21st-century bridge that works. But that isn’t our way, it’s not how management of public facilities and buildings function – our national default position is one of muddling through, of getting by.

This is the challenge the new government faces, of wresting control, of getting a grip. As well as pushing ahead with the new, ministers should pay attention to the old, to breaking down the barriers to progress, to sorting out the funding obstacles. Then, finally, we may begin to get an infrastructure that is fit for purpose.