Coming 2025: Silvertown tunnel to open this spring
Welcome to the latest in a continuing a series of posts looking at changes this year and today it’s the turn of the Silvertown tunnel.
Last month’s Transport for London meetings and related reports have the tunnel set to open around spring this year with no delay mentioned.
The tail end of 2024 also saw toll levels confirmed at £4 peak time for cars and £1.50 off-peak.
As seen in the main image above and those below the tunnel network is now all but complete. If you’re wondering where the bus lane is then it doesn’t exist outside the tunnel where buses will contend with general traffic.
The images were taken on a rare sunny day last week and a follow-up post with further images may follow time permitting.
One thing to note about the project is how TfL define peak is that southbound traffic in the afternoon often starts to build up long before the peak time start of 4pm.
Then again Sadiq Khan and TfL have long pretty much refused to discuss publicly the issue of additional traffic southbound each afternoon through Greenwich borough when talking about “alleviating congestion”, instead preferring to focus almost solely on northbound morning queues.
When traffic modelling was altered last year to show an increase in afternoon congestion through Greenwich borough it was all kept pretty quiet staying firmly within TfL reports such as those given to the Silvertown Tunnel Implementation Group, with no mention by proponents such as the Mayor.
Housing and DLR
A large area of land sits beside the tunnel will one day see thousands of new homes at Thameside Wharf as well as a new DLR station.
This is Greater London Authority land who partnered with Keystone London to build the site. It’s not going too well.
It doesn’t appear any building is imminent on either residential plots or public transport improvements in the immediate area.
A total of 5,000 homes were approved back in 2020 but the site is years behind intended timescales.
Much like areas south of the Thames around Greenwich peninsula, attempts to alleviate London’s housing crises are moving very slowly.
The tunnel however, looks set to open on time.
The elephant in the room is that it is under the city airport flightpath.
The lack here and on the peninsula has obviously got something to do with the fact that no one want s to live under a landing flight path.
Pontoon dock DLR station is getting a big upgrade with a upgraded lift’s and new escalators
Traffic will increase on both sides of the Silvertown Tunnel. Not helped by the Mayor of London going back on his promise to make the Silvertown Tunnel public transport friendlly cutting back back tge number of passenger bus routes from 5 to two passengers bus services. Once he received the final planning permission for the go ahead for the new tunnel.
The two bus routes to serve the new tunnel are fhe 129 from Lewisham and the new Superloop SL4 from Grove Park. Leaving the majority of the Boroughs of Greenwich and Newham with out a bus services through the tunnel.. This will add to traffic congestion regardless of what people say.
Sadly, more missed opportunities to help families with small children, or the elderly, to access shops or places to visit. Canary Wharf is a very good shopping destination and one that it encourages you to enjoy the time there, yet only one bus will take passengers from this side. Then again, no bus has ever turned right at the bottom of Westcombe Hill and joined the Charlton/Woolwich stretch to Westcombe Park/Blackheath so it may take some time before it percolates.
Hopefully they will realise that taking more people to shops and destinations is overall a good thing for the city, rather than just arbitrary connections such as the SL4 stopping at Sun in the Sands. I’m sure many families with small children or elderly people would enjoy having easier bus links to places such as Canary Wharf without the travails associated with big interchanges or decanting for the tube.
I totally agree with you Charles. Some very good points.
Once the new Silvertown Tunnel is completed. I think that it should help relieve most of the congestion coming to and from East London, The Docklands and Southeast London. And with plans for a new Thames Wharf DLR station to be built along with new development and apartments as well.
I agree with Andrew to an extent, However more traffic will still travel through the Boroughs to reach both the Silvertown and Blackwall Tunneks including more commercial vehicles. So I guess time will tell.
To be brutally honest peopke including the Mayor of London and TFL made promises they had no intentions of keeping to get the new tunnel approved..Hence immediately cutting the number of normal bus services to serve the Silvertown Town from 5 to 2..
Graham is also correct in what he said.
If think this something The Mayor of London and TFL need to urgently address witb both Greenwich and Newham Councils.