A Greenwich councillor has proposed that the new Silvertown Tunnel be opened to cyclists on a few weekends each year.

Rowshan Hannan, who represents East Greenwich for Labour, suggested that having car-free weekends would boost support for the tunnel, which has been opposed by environmental groups since the current plans were proposed 12 years ago.

She spoke during a transport scrutiny meeting last week after Rob Varney, a Transport for London representative, joked that he was looking forward to cycling through the tunnel before it opens to traffic in summer next year. 

Pedestrians and cyclists will be barred from the £2.2 billion tunnel between the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks, with TfL planning a shuttle bus to carry cyclists, an idea mocked by cycling campaigners.

“There’s been a lot of opposition to it here locally,” Hannan told Varney. “Now that it’s happening, we would obviously like to ensure that when it opens it’s approached much more positively than it has been so far. 

“So what are you going to get residents more excited? I was really excited when you said you were going to cycle through the tunnel – I’m not joking. A promotion where you allow residents to go with their cycles, maybe cycle through the tunnel might be exciting.”

Silvertown Tunnel worksite
The Silvertown Tunnel is expected to open in summer next year. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Varney said he would take the idea back to the tunnel’s project team, but added that “it’s fundamentally a piece of road infrastructure, it’s not like the cable car where it’s a tourist attraction”. 

Hannan said it was “great to see the [plans for] cycle buses” then added: “Have you considered having cycle-only days through the tunnel? Closing the tunnel to vehicles on a weekend every so often and allowing cycles only. Things like that would really strengthen support for the tunnel.”

Varney was sceptical that the idea would work.

“Having been down to the site, the trajectory of the road going into the tunnel is at an angle that’s not suitable for cycling, which is why we’re not actually going to allow cycling,” he said.

“It’s almost akin to the trajectory of the Blackwall Tunnel, so it probably wouldn’t be suitable.”

Silvertown Tunnel cycle bus image
Plans for cycle shuttle buses have been mocked by campaigners. Image: Transport for London

Hannan was elected to the council in 2022 after a close battle with the Greens, who had risen to prominence in the east Greenwich area partly because of fears about the Silvertown Tunnel, which the Labour council originally supported. It now opposes the project.

London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, who has called opponents a “vocal minority”, insists that the tunnel is needed to clear the notorious northbound queues at the Blackwall Tunnel, which halt traffic on weekdays and weekends.

Critics say that the new crossing will just bring more congestion to the wider area and worsen southbound queues on the A102 during the evening rush hour. 

TfL plans to toll both tunnels, which it claims will limit any growth in traffic. Funds from the tolls, which were first proposed by Khan’s Tory predecessor Boris Johnson in 2012, will be used to pay off the construction costs. Details of the toll are expected after the mayoral election on May 2.

BBC London News report used by arrangement with BBC Local News Partnerships

Research commissioned by TfL found that Greenwich residents were much more likely to be aware of the tunnel than those in other boroughs that will be affected by the new crossing.

In findings shared with the Silvertown Tunnel Implementation Group, which consists of staff from a number of boroughs in east and southeast London, researchers found that 78 per cent of Greenwich residents in areas near the tunnel were aware of the project, compared with 54 per cent in Newham, the borough where the tunnel will emerge, and 52 per cent in Lewisham.

While the tunnel will enable easier access to Canary Wharf and the City, only 46 per cent of Tower Hamlets residents – who will have to live with the extra traffic this may bring – knew about the scheme.

 Last week TfL invited selected media outlets – including BBC London (video above) but not The Greenwich Wire –  to visit the tunnel worksite on the peninsula. Work there to realign the road network has meant a series of southbound Blackwall Tunnel closures, with the next one due between  23-25 March.