Kensington roadworks: Albert Bridge shut until 2027

One closure dominates driving in this borough and will do for another year. Albert Bridge has been shut to motor vehicles since 7 February 2026 and the council does not expect to reopen it until 2027. Everything else on the road network here is measured against the traffic that closure pushes onto Chelsea Bridge and Battersea Bridge.

Below is what is closed now, what is coming, and the running costs of keeping a car in Kensington and Chelsea. Works dates come from the council’s own Works and Events Bulletin dated 6 August 2026, which is the register the council publishes and revises weekly.

Albert Bridge: closed, and not reopening soon

A routine inspection in February found a crack in a cast iron component at one of the bridge abutments, and the council closed the 1873 crossing to motor traffic the same day. It is still open to pedestrians and cyclists.

The council is spending up to £8.5 million on the repair and a wider refurbishment: a new road surface, refurbished toll booths and LED lighting. Physical construction is due to start before Christmas 2026, with full reopening scheduled for 2027. The reason for the wait is that the replacement components have to be specially designed and manufactured rather than bought off the shelf.

Kensington and Chelsea, Transport for London and Wandsworth Council are coordinating on the diverted traffic by rescheduling road works and retiming signals on the alternative routes. In practice that means Chelsea Bridge and Battersea Bridge are carrying the load, and the Embankment approaches to both are the pinch points at peak times.

The council’s own works register carries the closure through to 24 February 2027 with a note that the date “will be revised when final repair works start in December 2026”, so treat any reopening date you see as provisional.

What is closed this month

The one to plan around is Kensington High Street eastbound, closed from Hornton Street between 17 and 21 August, with Wright’s Lane northbound shut at the same time. Thames Water has reserved 24 to 28 August as backup dates, so if the work slips it lands in the following week. Kensington High Street is the borough’s main east-west route and there is no comparable parallel road, so the diversion pushes traffic onto the Cromwell Road corridor.

Later in the autumn, Kensington Church Street closes overnight at the Kensington High Street junction from 7 to 10 September, 7pm to 5am, with 14 to 17 September held as backup.

Footway works run alongside all of this, several of them for months at a time: Notting Hill Gate, Iverna Gardens to 30 October, Gloucester Walk to 29 October and Abingdon Road from mid-October to the end of December.

What is coming but not yet dated

Three sets of works appear in the register with dates still to be confirmed, and they are the ones most likely to disrupt main roads when they land.

• Overnight carriageway resurfacing, 8pm to 6am, on Holland Park Avenue, Notting Hill Gate and Kensington High Street. These are the borough’s three busiest surface routes and the work is scheduled at night for that reason.
• Pedestrian crossing improvements at King’s Road at the Beaufort Street junction and at Harrington Gardens at Collingham Gardens, both involving road closures, footway narrowing and parking suspensions.
• A long list of residential resurfacing closures, including Lowndes Square, Cadogan Place, Ladbroke Grove, Lennox Gardens, Walton Street, Campden Hill Road and Palace Gardens Terrace.

If you rely on a particular street, the council’s bulletin is republished regularly and is the only place these dates appear before the cones do.

What it costs to keep a car here

Resident parking permit prices changed on 1 April 2026 and are built from a base cost plus a charge for every gram of CO2 your car emits.

For a twelve month permit the council charges a £73 base, then £1 for each CO2 g/km. A fully electric car pays the base cost only. A diesel registered before 1 September 2015, which will be pre-Euro 6, pays a £94 surcharge on top. A second vehicle at the same address adds £108.

If your car’s CO2 figure is not on record, the council charges a flat addition instead: £147 a year for an engine of 1549cc or less and £204 above that. Refunds are paid within 28 days minus a £13 administration fee.

Three, six and twelve month permits are all available, and the shorter ones are proportionally worse value: the base cost is £44 for three months against £73 for twelve. Use the council’s parking permit calculator to get the figure for your own registration.

Charging zones: what applies here

ULEZ applies across the whole borough. The Ultra Low Emission Zone covers all London boroughs and the City of London, and the charge is £12.50 a day for a vehicle that does not meet the standards.

The Congestion Charge does not reach Kensington and Chelsea. The Western Extension, which covered this borough from 2007, was removed on 4 January 2011, and the zone’s western boundary has sat at Edgware Road, Park Lane and Vauxhall Bridge Road ever since. You start paying when you drive east of those roads, not when you leave home.

If you do cross into the zone, the charge rose on 2 January 2026 and is now £18 a day paid on the day or in advance, or £21 if you pay by midnight on the third day after. It runs 07:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends and on bank holidays, with no charge between Christmas Day and the New Year’s Day bank holiday.

Getting around without the car

Given the permit costs and the Albert Bridge closure, the Underground is doing more work than usual in this borough. Most of Kensington and Chelsea is in zone 1, where a single costs £3.10 at peak and the daily cap is £8.90. The tube and fares page has the zone for every station in the borough and typical journey times.

Frequently asked questions

Is Albert Bridge open?

Not to motor vehicles. It closed on 7 February 2026 after a crack was found in a cast iron component at one of the abutments, and it remains open only to pedestrians and cyclists. The council expects to reopen it to traffic in 2027.

Why is Albert Bridge taking so long to fix?

The replacement parts for an 1873 cast iron bridge have to be specially designed and manufactured. The council is spending up to £8.5 million and construction is due to start before Christmas 2026.

How much is a resident parking permit in Kensington and Chelsea?

£73 a year for a fully electric car, and £73 plus £1 for every CO2 g/km for everything else. A mid-size petrol car at 150 g/km costs about £223 a year. Pre-Euro 6 diesels pay a £94 surcharge.

Do I have to pay the Congestion Charge to drive in Kensington?

No. The borough has been outside the Congestion Charge zone since the Western Extension was removed in January 2011. ULEZ does apply, at £12.50 a day for a non-compliant vehicle.

Where can I check current roadworks in the borough?

The council publishes a Works and Events Bulletin listing council works, utility works and events on the public highway, updated regularly.

Sources

• Albert Bridge repairs, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the closure, cause, cost and timetable.
• Works and Events Bulletin, 6 August 2026, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for every closure and date listed above.
• Resident parking permit fees and charges, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for permit prices from 1 April 2026.
• Congestion Charge, Transport for London for the daily rate and hours, and TfL’s 2011 press release on the removal of the Western Extension.

Roadworks dates move. Confirm against the council’s current bulletin before planning around any of them.