London's wait for a new river crossing has been four years longer than it should have been, thanks to Boris Johnson's short-sightedness, says east London Assembly member John Biggs.
The mayor is expected to announce plans for a tunnel between Greenwich and Silvertown at the City of London's annual government dinner.
But speaking at City Hall ahead of the mayor's speech, John Biggs said: "One of Boris Johnson's first moves when he came to power was to scrap plans for a new bridge in east London and throw away its funding to the tune of hundreds of millions.
"We've now been waiting almost four years. If he hadn't been so short sighted back in 2008 we could have been opening a river crossing now. Instead all we have is a tunnel that is years away and doesn't appear to have any funding behind it.
"The Silvertown crossing was always supposed to go alongside the Thames Gateway Bridge. There is a risk that by building just one road, very close to the Blackwall Tunnel, additional capacity will come at the expense of increased congestion in the area. The package of two crossings is still needed."
Scrapping £3.5 billion worth of planned transport projects - including the £450 million Thames Gateway Bridge in November 2008, Boris Johnson said: "I am stopping the deception of keeping hopes alive when there is no funding for these schemes."
The chancellor's autumn state made no mention of funding for the Silvertown crossing, saying only that, "the Government will work with the Mayor of London and Transport for London to explore options for proposed additional river crossings, for example at Silvertown.”
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- John Biggs is the London Assembly member for City and East constituency, covering the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking & Dagenham and the City of London.