Blackwall Tunnel to partly shut for 4 weekends for Silvertown Tunnel works

Blackwall Tunnel will partially close for four weekends from May through to the start of July for Silvertown Tunnel works. During the weekends of midnight Saturday, May 18 to 5am on Monday, May 20, then the same hours in June 1-3, June 8-10 and June 29 until July 1 it will not be open to southbound traffic.

Transport for London (TfL) says a range of works will be carried out during these closures. This includes resurfacing roads and pavements on the tunnel approaches, installing safety barriers, work to retaining walls and carrying out landscaping. Northbound traffic through Blackwall Tunnel will not be affected by the closures.

They will begin shortly after midnight on the Saturday morning, with the tunnel not fully reopening until 5am on Monday morning. Silvertown Tunnel, which is expected to open next year, will reduce congestion and improve the reliability of Blackwall Tunnel, according to TfL.

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Drivers are advised to plan their journeys in advance of the closures. Traffic around Rotherhithe Tunnel and the nearby A13 Commercial Road is expected to be heavier than normal.

The Woolwich Ferry, which now depart every fifteen minutes, seven days a week, will also be in operation across the weekends. Drivers of HGVs, as well as vans more than two metres in height or weighing more than two tonnes, are advised to consider routes away from central London across the weekends where possible.

Nick Fairholme, Director of Capital Delivery Systems at TfL, said: “We are getting closer to the opening of the new Silvertown Tunnel and appreciate that these planned weekend works will have an impact on some drivers. We are doing everything in our power to limit potential disruption and complete these essential works as quickly as possible, including ensuring a northbound route through the Blackwall Tunnel is maintained throughout.”

The 108 bus service will be split during the closure terminating at both Canning Town and North Greenwich. Passengers are able to take the Jubilee line between both stations before resuming their bus journeys with refunds available.

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