More huge tunnels could be coming to London in the future as a plan to have three River Thames crossings in the east of the capital could be revived. The £2.2billion Silvertown Tunnel was opened on Monday, providing another option for motorists to travel from one side of the waterway to the other. Conservative London Assembly Member Nick Garratt has claimed that Labour’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has been rather “shy” about the project, suggesting that this is because the new sub-river road is only one of a raft of schemes pursued by Boris Johnson when the former prime minister held the post.
Following a review of potential future river crossings in 2016, Transport for London (TfL) paused work on potential road crossings at Gallions Reach and Belvedere, and instead focused on the delivery of the Elizabeth line and Silvertown Tunnel. Officials were also at the time looking into the possibility of a DLR extension across the Thames from Gallions Reach via Beckton Riverside to Thamesmead.
The Express understands that, once this and the Lower Thames Crossing have been delivered, the Mayor and TfL will consider the need for any additional road crossings in line with the objectives of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.
TfL said when consulting on the extra crossings that the proposed projects at Gallions Reach and Belvedere could play a key role in supporting growth, and help drive London’s economy.
Officials added: “While the exact alignment of each crossing has not been finalised, the Gallions Reach crossing would link the A2016 Western Way in Thamesmead with the A1020 Royal Docks Road in the north.
“The Belvedere crossing would link the A2016 Bronze Age Way in Belvedere with the A13 Marsh Way junction in Rainham.
“New crossings would reduce journey times, create new opportunities for improvements to the walking, cycling and public transport networks across the river, and help to stimulate development in the surrounding areas.”
In 2015, Mr Johnson presented a vision of 13 new tunnels and bridges. As well as those at Silvertown, Gallions Reach and Belvedere, these included a “Garden Bridge” in central London, a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge linking Battersea with Pimlico, and a new pedestrian and cycle crossing linking Rotherhithe with Canary Wharf.
But Reform UK has expressed trepidation about the potential projects, suggesting that the current planning process may ensure they would not be worth it for drivers.
James McMurdock, the party’s MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, told the Express: “Improvement to the country’s infrastructure is welcome but any works, regardless of the benefits, will fail to deliver proper value for money due to our existing planning regulations.”
He added: “The whole system needs streamlining. Moving to a rules based systems would remove the uncertainty created by the current discretionary system.
“I would also streamline and speed up the process by reducing the number of separate approval processes, and reduce the timeline for Development Consent Orders (DCOs).”
AM Garratt said on Monday: “It’s only one out of three crossings. When this was first proposed by Boris, there were going to be three crossings.
“Two more further east, which would really open up the east of London to actually get across between the boroughs in the northeast and southeast of the river. Sadiq has delivered only one of the three.”
“So, actually, all of the traffic from Blackwall and from Silvertown is going to converge on Greenwich.”
