Transport for London has given media a first look inside the Silvertown Tunnel, a multi-billion pound infrastructure project built to reduce pollution and ease congestion around the Blackwall Tunnel.
Slated for opening in 2025, the tunnel, which runs for 1.4 kilometres under the Thames, will link the Greenwich Peninsula with Silvertown, a district in the borough of Newham. It is the first project of its kind in the capital for over 30 years.
The TfL website claims the tunnel will “reduce chronic congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel and allow for better public transport links, including more cross-river bus journeys”.
The construction project will cost around £1bn, with a further £1.2bn to be paid over the next 25 years in annual payments, under the terms of a contract signed with a private finance initiative.
The project has been controversial in some parts, with worries about its environmental impact and suggestions that it may in fact worsen traffic and congestion.
Silvertown Tunnel map
TfL says that the works “also include improvements for walking, cycling and the areas near the tunnel entrances”
(TfL)
The tunnel lies within the Ulez zone, and connects the A1020 in Silvertown to the A102 on the Greenwich Peninsula. It extends from the Royal Docks, not far from City Hall, to north Greenwich, near the southbound exit for the Blackwall Tunnel.
Will the Silvertown Tunnel be free or have a toll?
TfL has announced that the tunnel will run a toll upon opening, while the Blackwall Tunnel will also start operating a toll from 2025. The exact amount is uncertain, and is due to be revealed next summer, but the BBC reports that it could be between £3 and £5 each way for a normal car.
Campaigners have pointed to the plan to introduce tolls as something that may provoke anger among voters
(RiverLinx)
The tunnel will have a lane for buses and large HGVs, though cyclists will be banned from using it.
When will the Silvertown Tunnel be finished?
According to TfL’s timeline, registration “for user-charging accounts” will open this year, and the tunnel itself is planned to open at some point in 2025.
Work on the tunnel began in 2021, having been reviewed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan when he first came into office in 2016. TfL applied for a Development Consent Order that same year, and was awarded it in 2018.
In July 2023, the second bore…
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