Caroline Russell AM on Silvertown Road Tunnel opening: £2 billion for a traffic nightmare with a cycle shuttle that misses the mark

After years of campaigning against the Silvertown Road Tunnel, Monday 7^th April marks its official opening. With a hefty £2 billion price tag, the tunnel is set to worsen traffic and pollution in London, while failing to address the city’s pressing need for sustainable transport solutions.

For nearly 25 years, Caroline Russell AM and other Green Party London Assembly Members have been tirelessly pushing London Mayors to scrap this traffic-inducing project.

Instead of providing a dedicated crossing for people walking and cycling, the Mayor has introduced a cycle shuttle bus – a service that Caroline Russell AM has described as an awkward attempt to compensate for a fundamentally flawed project.

Reacting to the opening of the tunnel Green Party London Assembly Caroline Russell said:

“The opening of Silvertown Road Tunnel is a reminder of the £2 billion wasted on a project that nobody in London has shown any real enthusiasm for.

“Londoners deserve so much more than this. We need river crossings that prioritise clean air, safe walking and cycling with affordable public transport rather than this traffic-inducing road tunnel.

“The Mayor has claimed to be the ‘greenest’ Mayor ever, yet here we are, with a tunnel that is the opposite of anything ‘green’.

“To make matters worse, the Mayor’s clunky cycle shuttle service is a half-baked impractical solution strapped onto a project that people have campaigned against for decades.

“Expecting people to get off their bikes, wait up to 12 minutes and then lug their bikes onto a bus is ridiculous, especially when the entire area around the tunnel is dangerous for cycling and filled with high-risk junctions.

“This could easily have been solved with a proper route across the river for people walking and cycling."