Silvertown Tunnel: Everything London drivers need to know

A guide on tolls for London drivers.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm here on a sunny spring day at the Greenwich Peninsula by the River Thames where

00:08next week the Silvertown Tunnel connecting this area to the north of the River Thames

00:13will be in service. From next week drivers using London's Blackwood Tunnel will have

00:18to pay a toll as well as drivers on the Silvertown Tunnel. The change is being implemented the

00:24same day the new Silvertown Tunnel which will link East London to South East London also

00:29opens to drivers. Now for car drivers a return journey at peak times will cost £8 jumping

00:36to £13 for large vans. So here is everything you need to know about the new tunnel, the

00:42tolls and the decision behind its implementation. The 1.4km tunnel stretches from Silvertown

00:50in Newham East London to the Greenwich Peninsula where I am here in South East London. It will

00:56run adjacent to the Victorian era Blackwood Tunnel which takes drivers near the O2 Arena

01:03under the River Thames to the East India Dock Road in Blackwood. The project which has cost

01:10£2.2 billion was approved by London Mayor Sadiq Khan having been first proposed back

01:15in 2012 nearly 13 years ago. It is being funded through the private finance and Transport

01:21for London will pay back £100 million a year made through money on the toll. Now the

01:27new tunnel aims to reduce congestion that currently builds up on the approach towards

01:32the Blackwood Tunnel now having two tunnels in operation. Transport for London claims

01:37the new Silvertown Tunnel will save commuters up to 20 minutes on travel time. The government

01:43body says Blackwood Tunnel was never designed to carry the levels of traffic that it currently

01:48does leading to more frequent incidents that cause traffic and tailback for miles negatively

01:54impacting air quality. Now air quality in London has been a big talking point. It's

02:04why London Mayor Sadiq Khan implemented the EULA zone as well. Recently I spoke to an

02:08expert on air quality in the capital. Air pollution affects almost everyone but it is

02:17particularly acute in urban areas, inner cities, people who live near main roads. So

02:22for me and for Impacts on Urban Health who I work for that's a big issue. It's a health

02:27inequality. It's a social justice issue. So we should be doing a lot more work to ensure

02:32that the people most affected actually have a chance and opportunity for clean air and

02:37good health. I think it's really important to have people in positions of power and champions

02:42to be able to push the agenda forward and I think thanks to that we're seeing a lot

02:48more conversation and debate. I guess you see that a lot more in articles in the BBC

02:52and the Guardian. People are paying more attention to it so I think it definitely makes our lives

02:56easier.