Blackwall tunnel toll: Some drivers will pay 'up to £40 a day' to enter central London, warns MP
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The forthcoming toll on the Blackwall tunnel could result in some drivers paying up to “£35 to £40 each day” to get to work, a London MP has warned. Transport for London announced last week that tolls will be introduced at Blackwall tunnel – for the first time in 130 years – from Monday April 7, in conjunction with the opening on the same day of the nearby Silvertown tunnel.
Tory MP Louie French said that some drivers would have to pay the tunnel toll, the £12.50 ultra-low emission zone levy and the £15 congestion charge if they entered central London in a Ulez-non-compliant vehicle. Mr French said the Blackwall tunnel tolls were “likely to impact over 100,000 drivers in the east and south-east of London every single day”.
He warned of a “congestion nightmare” as drivers sought to avoid paying the Blackwall or Silvertown tunnel tolls by diverting through the Rotherhithe tunnel or travelling via the Dartford crossing on the M25 motorway. Mr French, the MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, said: “In addition to the mayor’s expansion of the Ulez zone and the increased charges for the congestion charge, this new toll could see drivers having to pay around £35 to £40 each day just to get to work – that is before we consider the impact of fuel costs or parking charges in the capital.
“This is deeply unfair on hard-working drivers across the capital – the likes of small business owners or those that need to see friends and family on either side of the river. “It is especially unfair when you consider the large number of free crossings elsewhere in the capital.”.
