Greenwich council calls for pause in ‘ticking time bomb’ Silvertown Tunnel construction

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Greenwich council has voted for the Silvertown Tunnel to be reprioritised for public transport use, with a local councillor calling the project a “ticking time bomb” in relation to traffic and pollution.

The authority has voted to call on the Mayor of London to pause construction on the second bore of the Silvertown Tunnel to consider prioritising cycling and public transport use.

The topic was discussed at a Greenwich council meeting on Wednesday.

Labour councillor Majella Anning, who proposed the motion, said that the tunnel was a “ticking time bomb” given its opportunity to allow lorries to pass through the borough in its dedicated heavy goods vehicle lane.

The councillor also highlighted the danger that particulate matter posed to residents’ health, due to heavy vehicles producing it from tyre friction.

Cllr Anning said at the meeting: “When residents see the container lorries and the juggernauts going past their front doors and going very close to their children’s playgrounds at school, they will ask us, ‘did you know this was going to happen?’

“Our residents will pay the price of the Silvertown Tunnel. This is a time bomb waiting to happen in Greenwich, and we must say so.”

The motion also called for more mitigation measures along the A102 to reduce traffic and pollution in the area.

This includes implementing previous proposals from Transport for London (TfL), such as restricting access to the A102/A206 junction and removing the Angerstein roundabout in Woolwich Road.

Labour councillor David Gardner said at the meeting: “The intersection between the A102 and the A206 [is] often referred to as a ‘roundabout of death’ because of the number of cycling fatalities there. It is horrendous.

“While there have been one or two little improvements like the new cycle lane, it is still really, really alien and dangerous.”

Conservative councillor Matt Hartley put forward an amendment to the motion, asking for a bus route from Eltham to Beckton, that was intended to go through the Silvertown Tunnel in TfL’s original plans.

It also asked for a link to be included between Woolwich and Eltham in the new ‘Superloop’ bus network announced by the Mayor of London in March.

At the meeting, Greenwich council voted not to carry Cllr Hartley’s amendment. The original motion was passed, calling for public transport in the Silvertown Tunnel to be prioritised.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “The Silvertown Tunnel will transform the way people can travel in a part of London that currently has few options for crossing the Thames.

“In addition to providing new, zero-emission, cross-river bus services, the tunnel will address the chronic vehicle congestion currently associated with the inadequate, Victorian-era Blackwall Tunnel, and give greater resilience and flexibility to the only strategic road crossing in east London.

“A new user charge on both tunnels will ensure there is no increase in traffic overall.”

Pictured top: Part of the Silvertown Tunnel construction (Picture: City Hall Greens)