Vehicle owners may have to face a £4 charge every time they use the Blackwall or Silvertown tunnels from 2025 amid plans by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, according to road sign drafts approved by the Transport Secretary.
Mark Harper has approved a request from Transport for London (TfL) to install road signs informing drivers that they will soon have to pay to use the tunnels, the Evening Standard reports.
Although the Blackwall tunnel is currently free to use, it will have the toll introduced when the Silvertown tunnel opens, also with the toll, scheduled to take place in 2025.
According to sign drafts, published on TfL’s website, the tolls will be active from 6am until 10pm and will affect all drivers.
It comes after the Mayor of London rolled out a major Ulez expansion earlier this month which sees all owners of cars not compliant with emissions limits forced to pay £12.50 per day to drive across the whole of greater London.
The sign drafts show a suggested charge of £4 per trip for car drivers and £8.50 for larger vehicle owners
It comes after the Mayor of London rolled out a major Ulez expansion earlier this month
Road signs with the TfL logo at the top show motorcyclists will pay a ‘maximum’ of £3, car drivers £4, and other vehicle drivers £8.50 at the tunnels.
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The toll applies in both directions but can be paid online, according to the signs.
Other drafted signs include notification signs, and those that instruct a driver of the final exit to take before the tunnels charge kicks in.
But the signs are not final, and charges could change further, official documents state.
The Transport Secretary signed the document which includes clauses allowing the charge figures, types of vehicles, and the charging period to be changed.
TfL has stressed that no decision has been made and the figures on the signs are simply ‘placeholders’, the Evening Standard reports.
By comparison, to use the Dartford Crossing car drivers currently pay £2.50 and larger vehicles pay £6.
The Silvertown Tunnel, due to be completed in 2025, will be a four-lane tunnel running for 0.9 miles and will connect North Greenwich with the Royal Docks.
It was first proposed in 2005 under former Mayor Ken Livingstone but was also backed by Conservative mayor Boris Johnson.
Its aim is to ease the burden on the Blackwall tunnel, which currently experiences high levels of congestion, and reduce car emissions.
The Silvertown tunnel, which is still under construction, is aimed at reducing congestion for the Blackwall tunnel (pictured)
But it has proved controversial, with campaign groups questioning whether it will actually reduce emissions and eco-activists calling for it to be scrapped altogether and the money spent on public transport instead.
There are now multiple charges for drivers in London to navigate. The congestion charge, introduced in 2003, sets Londoners back by £15, in addition to the Ulez charge of £12.50.
The cost of driving has been criticised by many residents of Greater London after Sadiq Khan rolled out Ulez to cover all of the city’s boroughs.
Some angry drivers have resorted to desperate (and illegal) measures to avoid being charged by damaging Ulez cameras.
The Met Police recorded around 500 attacks on Ulez cameras from April to August this year.
Recent attempts have included sawing a pole holding a Ulez camera in half and parking so close to moveable cameras that the vehicle cannot move.
It has also been reported that some moveable cameras now have security teams to protect it due to the danger from the public.
A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: ‘In order to obtain necessary approvals for the new road signage required for the Silvertown Tunnel, a submission for the potential signs has been made to the Department for Transport.
‘No charges have been finalised yet and any times and costs within the submission are indicative to allow for approval to be obtained.
‘The final charges will be made ahead of the Silvertown Tunnel opening in 2025 once further modelling, including assessments on concessions, are completed.’
