“The Mayor is pushing for the kind of road-building projects which belong back in the 60s” says Green Assembly Member Darren Johnson.
The Mayor of London today published the ‘London Infrastructure Plan 2050’ in which he set out his priorities for the capital’s infrastructure over the next half century.
The plan refers to the Mayor’s proposals to build a £700m Thames river crossing at Silvertown, an £2 billion inner London orbital road tunnel and a further package of river crossings, all of which would be tolled.
The Mayor has called for “strong political support…to push [the infrastructure] projects through from the beginning”. The Green Party’s Darren Johnson, a member of the London Assembly elected to scrutinise the Mayor’s decisions, has responded by arguing that cross-party support will not be possible whilst the plans remain a car-centric vision for London.
Darren said:
“It is vital that we build consensus around much-needed public transport schemes which will benefit millions of Londoners. But the Mayor is completely deluded if he thinks he will be able to create consensus around the hugely polluting, disruptive and expensive road-building schemes he is proposing. The plans by the previous Mayor for a six-lane Thames Gateway Bridge were successfully opposed by local people and campaigners and the project was cancelled in 2008.”
“Instead of learning from that debacle, the Mayor is pushing for the kind of road-building projects which belong back in the car-dominated 1960s. Rather than channelling time, energy and public funds into these wasteful schemes which will worsen air quality yet further, he should be investing in public transport and facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.”