[darrenoc]

This is a bit like when they cancelled the Rotherhithe walking & cycling bridge because it was allegedly going to cost 400 million. Powerful establishment lobbying groups ensure that government estimates for green projects make them seem unaffordable.

[inamberclad]

Who the hell is lobbying against a pedestrian bridge?

[sandworm101]

Bicyclists who wanted a bike-friendly bridge? I've seen that. Old people who want a level crossing rather than an elevated bridge over a road? I've seen that too. Local landowners who don't want any change to their view. That's pretty common for all projects.

Then there are the fundamentalists who fight any outlay of taxpayer dollars.

[hannasanarion]

We're talking about the Rotherhithe pedestrian and cycling bridge. I can assure you that cyclists were not lobbying against a cycling bridge, and that you cannot get a level crossing over a major river.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Rotherhithe_crossing

[adrianmonk]

People who don't want it connecting their area with a "bad" area. I have no idea if that applies in this situation. But some people who live on the "right" side of the tracks would prefer those on the "wrong" side to stay on their side. (I'd bet people oppose certain public transit routes for similar reasons.)

Also people who just don't want any foot traffic in their residential area. Some people are adamant about their neighborhood having as few outsiders as possible and by invite only.

[mperham]

I see you've never been to a City Council meeting. NIMBYs will screech about the most minor change.

[crusso]

Yeah, but they serve as a pretty good counter-balance to the over-zealous city council members who prefer to take on expensive pet projects rather than to competently manage existing infrastructure.

It happens at all levels of government. I have an HOA that I've participated in over the years. My HOA's job is to maintain a clubhouse, the pool, the tennis courts, a small kids' playground, and some other common areas. For some reason, every 4 or 5 years, some person decides he wants to leave the traditional HOA lane and "go big" on special projects. Email flamewars and special HOA sessions ensue and "some person" gets the message to stop trying to find ways to increase our HOA dues.

[inamberclad]

Without idiots it wouldn't be a representational body...

[hannasanarion]

The City of London doesn't have a democratic council, the mayor and officers of the city are elected by a council of local CEOs.

[rsynnott]

This was nothing to do with the City of London, was it? The Greater London Authority (the one Khan is in charge of) would be more relevant, I would have thought.

[westmeal]

I can imagine an evil cabal of auto manufacturers but more realistically it's inflated construction contracts. Then again what do I know.

[techdragon]

Businesses whose foot traffic would be adversely affected by the new pedestrian route is my first guess.

[tzs]

(The following is not satire or a joke)

In the US there has been significant opposition to things like pedestrian bridges, bike paths, parks, and the like for the last decade or so, from people who think those things are part of a plot to take away our rights and freedoms.

How? By making cities more pedestrian and bike friendly, and more pleasant places in general for people to live, it will encourage more and more of the population to concentrate in cities. It will then be easier for the globalists backed by UN troops to confiscate our guns, and then take over the country.

A lot of this ties back to "Agenda 21". That was a document produced in 1992 by the United Nations Conference on Environment & Development, signed by George H.W. Bush and the leaders of 177 other countries. It's a nonbinding statement of intent to improve and promote sustainability.

The John Birch Society decided that it was actually a plan to form a socialist one-world government, a "New World Order", that would usher in a "new Dark Ages of pain and misery yet unknown to mankind", and make the US a vassal of the UN, result in the forced relocation of rural populations to cities, and so on.

And it is not just fringe groups like the John Birch Society. According to Senator Ted Cruz, "Agenda 21 attempts to abolish “unsustainable” environments, including golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads. It hopes to leave mother earth’s surface unscratched by mankind. . . . Agenda 21 subverts liberty, our property rights, and our sovereignty".

Here's a good article about it [1].

[1] https://www.splcenter.org/20140331/agenda-21-un-sustainabili...

[throwaway0a5e]

The taxpayers who saw how the bridge in the next town over was basically an handout to a politically connected construction firm with a bridge as a side benefit.