Sadiq Khan is set to charge drivers using the Blackwall Tunnel to fund another new tunnel in east London.
Transport for London (TfL) confirmed that it expected to start charging drivers to use the previously free Blackwall Tunnel in 2025, with the funds going towards paying back the construction costs of the £2 billion Silvertown Tunnel.
The fee, which has yet to be decided, will heap additional costs onto the 100,000 drivers who use the tunnel every day, with some already having to contend with the Ulez and Congestion Charge.
The 1.4km Silvertown is being built to reduce the chronic congestion currently experienced at the Blackwall Tunnel and will link the Greenwich Peninsula on the southbank of the Thames, to Silvertown on the north.
Once opened, TfL has said that both the Blackwall and Silvertown will be subject to a road user charge, which will help with construction and maintenance costs.
TfL has said that while funds would be used for the Silvertown Tunnel, a toll would be applied to both tunnels to help manage traffic levels.
The Blackwall Tunnel is one of just a handful of crossings in east London, with the other east London crossing currently just the Woolwich Ferry.
TfL has estimated that the introduction of the Silvertown Tunnel will reduce delays and queues at the Blackwall Tunnel, and make current journeys 20 minutes faster.
It is being constructed under a design, build, finance and maintain (DBFM) contract, with TfL only making payments once the tunnel is in operation.
Later this month, Sadiq Khan is set to bring in another driver charge, when his controversial Ulez is introduced across all 32 London Boroughs.
Under the scheme, drivers of vehicles that do not meet Euro 4 emissions regulations will have to pay a £12.50 charge every day they use their car.
A spokesman for TfL said: “As has been publicised for many years, once the Silvertown Tunnel opens, drivers must pay a user charge for using either the Blackwall or the Silvertown Tunnel.
“The exact charge levels for various types of vehicles using the new tunnel will be decided closer to the opening date.
“This user charge will pay for building and maintaining the tunnel – but its main purpose is to help us manage traffic levels. Any surplus revenue will be reinvested in London’s transport network.
“The Silvertown Tunnel, once open, will support growth in the local area, provide new public transport connections across the river via zero-emission bus routes and address the chronic issues Londoners face at the Blackwall Tunnel.”
