took these on a bright sunny day in june 2022. they show the main construction area of the north approach to the new silvertown tunnel which will connect the north of the thames in east london with the greenwich peninsula. just west of the thames flood barrier.
it had been meant to complement, or perhaps supplement is better … the proposed thames gateway bridge first planned in the late twentieth century, but abandoned because of increasing costs in the ’noughties. the tunnel, however, approved by the then labour mayor, ken livingstone (despite local opposition, and in his own party) was finally given approval by the new mayor of london, boris johnson at an estimated cost of £600 million. by 2015, this estimate had risen to £1 billion, and by 2020 when work was given the final go-ahead by the current mayor, sadiq khan, estimates were running at £1.2 billion. additionally, future maintenance, over the next 25 years upon completion is expected to be at least a further £1 billion.
in addition to widespread concern over the steadily increasing financial costs, there is a strong body of opposition on environmental grounds. far from alleviating east london’s traffic demands, it will only contribute to the additional growth of traffic flow in london and this area particularly. opposition comes from the green party, the labour party, and the liberal democrats, and perhaps surprisingly some conservative party activists. in an open letter from rokhsana fiaz (mayor of the the borough of newham) to the mayor of london, sadiq khan she states:

We remain opposed to the scheme due to the detrimental impact it will have on traffic congestion as well as toxic air quality in Newham; which is amongst the worst in England with devastating health impacts on our residents. Some 96 people die prematurely each year in our borough due to respiratory diseases caused by vehicle pollution.

there is also a considerable coalition of local activist and campaign groups attempting to persuade the mayor to end the project. the main claim, common to the opposition is that traffic growth will further contribute to increasing levels of air pollution. the area has a growing young population, and has already been shown to suffer some of the highest levels of traffic-generated air pollution in europe. children are at particular risk.