The Mayor of London has today promised a new road tunnel, connecting the Greenwich Peninsula to Silvertown, within a decade. It will have a capacity of 2,400 vehicles an hour, in both directions, and will ease congestion of the existing Blackwall and Rotherhithe tunnels. Few details have yet been provided on the costs, or whether the new tunnel, or existing crossings, will have to be tolled in order to pay for it.
Darren Johnson AM said:
"The London Mayor can’t claim that air pollution or climate change are a priority whilst proposing to build a traffic generating road like this Silvertown Tunnel. The last Mayor lost the public inquiry on the grounds that a bridge at Gallions Reach would increase traffic in east London and add to pollution. This tunnel is a straight forward attempt to double capacity around the Blackwall Tunnel and will generate extra traffic all over East London. I don’t understand how Boris Johnson can support this bridge when air pollution in London is already failing both national and European standards."
