A festive truce has broken out over the Greenwich Foot Tunnel – with the two councils that own it finally agreeing to work together on “full tunnel regeneration”.
Representatives of Greenwich and Tower Hamlets councils met last month and agreed to work on detailed designs, including introducing new lifts with dual shafts so when one breaks, the other can still be used.
The meeting came after years of wrangling between the two councils over the 123-year-old tunnel, which links Greenwich with the Isle of Dogs but has been plagued for years by frequent lift failures.
In October Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Greenwich’s interim cabinet member for transport, complained that his counterpart in Tower Hamlets, Shafi Ahmed, had not responded to an invite to a meeting, and called on residents to email the east London council to ask why.
But after two enquiries from The Greenwich Wire to Tower Hamlets’ press office, Ahmed did respond – and progress has now been made.
“The week before last I had an incredibly productive meeting with Tower Hamlets, their cabinet member for transport and some of their senior officers, and I was very glad that they agreed that we could proceed to a detailed design phase on full tunnel regeneration,” O’Byrne Mulligan told Wednesday night’s full council meeting. “Our masterplan has work to replace both the lifts, moving to dual shaft to increase reliability and serviceability, steps to improve the heritage aspects, lighting, and also wider usage of the tunnel.
“This is a key strategic asset for London and something that we can be rightly very proud of here in Greenwich.”
O’Byrne Mulligan said a similar meeting would be convened with Newham for the Woolwich Foot Tunnel and that the councils would be working with Will Norman, the London mayor’s walking and cycling commissioner.
The meeting between the two councils came after a petition was launched pushing for the tunnels to be transferred to Transport for London. Both tunnels were built by the old London County Council for dock workers, who would travel in the large lifts that now look set to be divided into two under the refurbishment plans.
When its successor, the Greater London Council, was scrapped in 1985 its river crossings were shared out among the boroughs.
While Blackwall Tunnel and the Woolwich Ferry returned to London-wide government in 2000 when TfL was set up, but the foot tunnels stayed with the boroughs, who have had sometimes had a fractious relationship.
Three years ago one Tower Hamlets councillor demanded anti-cycling barriers be put in place on the north side of the tunnel, while last year a row between Greenwich and Newham held up work to fix the northern lift at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, which has been out of action since August 2022 but should now finally be repaired in the spring.
“TfL have been clear they aren’t going to take on the tunnels, and in fact they operate a minority of river crossings in London, both under and over the river, but they’re working with us to take things forward,” O’Byrne Mulligan told Greenwich Park councillor Aidan Smith.
“I’m incredibly glad that Tower Hamlets have stepped up and engaged, and I’m very hopeful for the future.”
Karin Tearle and Maureen O’Mara from the Lifts Now! campaign, which is behind the petition for TfL to take over the tunnels, told The Greenwich Wire: “We note the hoped-for improvements are spread out, yet again, over a long period of time – while one of the Woolwich Foot Tunnel lifts remains out of use
“Our campaign continues. We say thank you to the over 1,800 signers, so far, of our petition. It is public pressure that has got us this far .
“We believe that two vital cross river and cross borough pedestrian and cyclists routes are best run by TfL – London’s strategic transport authority. rather than three individual boroughs.”
Updated at 2.30pm with Lifts Now! comment.
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