Planning - Traffic
Silvertown Tunnel
TfL Consultation on proposed tolls for Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels from 2025
TfL is currently consulting on the tolling regime for Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels from next year.
You can find the consultation at haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk and you need to register to make comments. The deadline for comments is 3rd September. It will be purely advisory as the TfL board will make the final decision.
The Greenwich Society has not taken a particular stance on the construction of Silvertown Tunnel as there is a wide range of views about the wisdom of adding a new river crossing here. However, it is important that some of the specific local issues are taken into account so we would urge everyone to
submit comments. Among the points that members might like to consider are:
- Is the price fair and reasonable and will it enable TfL to meet its objective of reducing traffic by 25% in London by 2030? Many people were surprised that the proposed off-peak car toll
is actually cheaper than a bus fare for the same journey.
- There are a large number of proposed exemptions – is this too complicated and open to abuse? Should exemptions be restricted to blue badge holders only?
- The peak hours are different for northbound and southbound traffic – will this be confusing?
- Is a £10 HGV peak hour toll enough to prevent a lot of lorries diverting from the Dartford crossing?
- Tolling will only operate from 0600 to 2200 each day – will this encourage late night traffic, particularly HGVs? We currently have a number of distribution centres built or planned
from East Greenwich to Charlton riverside. These have no restrictions on operating hours.
- How will foreign-registered vehicles pay tolls? There have been problems collecting tolls and fines from foreign vehicle owners at Dartford and for infringements of the ULEZ and this
loss seems to have been written off.
- A particular local concern is that TfL had indicated that once Silvertown Tunnel opens Rotherhithe Tunnel will be closed for at least 18 months for repairs. They now say that funding is no longer available and Rotherhithe Tunnel will remain open. It is therefore possible that vehicles wishing to avoid any toll will divert to Rotherhithe via Greenwich town centre or across Blackheath. This would obviously be extremely bad news both for air quality and congestion.
Previous correspondence:
From: Sheila [mailto:smkeeble@yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: 23 July 2020 12:24
To: mayor@london.gov.uk; heidi.alexander@london.gov.uk; len.duvall@london.gov.uk; will.norman@london.gov.uk
Cc: Chris Lloyd <chris.lloyd@royalgreenwich.gov.uk>; Stephen Brain <stephen.brain@royalgreenwich.gov.uk>; Denise Scott-McDonald <denise.scott-mcdonald@royalgreenwich.gov.uk>; Danny Thorpe <Danny.Thorpe@royalgreenwich.gov.uk>; PENNYCOOK, Matthew <matthew.pennycook.mp@parliament.uk>; marilyn.little@btinternet.com; Richard Butt <rbbutt@btinternet.com>
Subject: Silvertown Tunnel Roadworks
Dear Mayor and GLA Members,
As you have been a keen supporter of the Silvertown Tunnel project, we hope that you can provide some important information for Greenwich residents. We have a large number of planning documents going through the Greenwich planning process at the moment relating to the actual tunnel construction and the SGN site where the gasometer has just been demolished. What is missing from the process is any information at all about the ancillary infrastructure works which will be required and this is causing considerable concern locally.
The various Silvertown planning documents refer only (paragraph 1.1) to road widening and a flyover for the southern exit from Blackwall Tunnel. We assume that there must be more thorough planning and design statements about the intended road layouts, signage, pedestrian and cycle access and we hope you can provide this.
At the moment, the A102 is a serious barrier to movement between Greenwich and the Peninsula. There are only five potential crossing points between Westcombe Park Railway Station and Blackwall Tunnel. Three of these are pedestrian/cycle bridges:
l The footbridge to Westcombe Park station from Charlton side
l The filthy, graffiti-covered and ill-lit footbridge from Tunnel Avenue to the Odeon cinema which many local people consider too dangerous to use after dark
l The old footbridge at Boord Street which is apparently scheduled for demolition soon in the first phase of Silvertown construction
The remaining two road crossings are:
l The notorious Angerstein roundabout under the A102 with a history of cycle fatalities and avoided by pedestrians because of the need to cross a number of HGV-choked sliproads.
l The almost equally unpleasant Blackwall Lane underpass where illegal turning off the sliproads makes this a pedestrian nightmare.
The unpleasantness of the crossings has been a major factor in encouraging people to drive between the Peninsula and Greenwich rather than walk or cycle - as can be seen during the school arrival and departure times on both sides of the motorway.
In order that the Silvertown Tunnel works do not become another major obstacle to permeability between the two areas, we believe that there must be some serious community engagement in the design of the new road layouts and particularly in the arrangement of pedestrian and cycle access points. Whatever one’s views on the merits or otherwise of Silvertown Tunnel, we believe that it is very important that the additional road infrastructure does not become the new Westway.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Sheila Keeble
On behalf of East Greenwich Residents’ Association
Richard Butt
Vice Chair of The Greenwich Society and Chair of Greenwich Planning Alliance
Marilyn Little
Chair of the Westcombe Society