The newly opened Silvertown tunnel in east London, connecting Greenwich and Newham, is facing significant backlash. While London officials promote it as a solution to congestion and air pollution, many local residents, experts, and campaigners argue it will exacerbate traffic issues and threaten public health. Critics, including Victoria Rance from the Stop the Silvertown Tunnel Coalition, assert that the tunnel represents a 20th-century approach to a modern transportation problem and advocate for its repurposing to accommodate public transport and bicycles, arguing it offers a critical opportunity to rethink urban infrastructure.
Victoria Rance, founder of the Stop the Silvertown Tunnel Coalition, said there is a feeling of anger among the people who have raised objections to the project, adding the tunnel is a 20th-century solution to a 21st-century problem. As cities across Europe invest in public transport or active travel real green transport infrastructure we are left with what is effectively 1970s technology a highly polluting road tunnel that will be out of date the moment it opens.
Rance said the £2bn scheme is a wasted opportunity that will damage the health of local communities for decades to come unless it is urgently reimagined. We are still calling for it to be repurposed into a tunnel crossing for public transport and bikes and we will continue to make that argument.
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