New Thames Crossings Desperately Needed Say MPs

A report has been published by the House of Commons’ Transport Committee calling for more bridges and tunnels to be built across the UK’s rivers and estuaries with particular focus on river crossing in East London, echoing recent calls for a new East London Bridge from the British Chambers of Commerce.

The committee has called for he government to work closely with the greater London Authority to provide the required leadership to gets plans off the drawing board and passed through to the construction phase.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is considering proposals for an East of London crossing as well as a Lower Thames Crossing.

Committee chair Louise Ellman MP said: “Time and time again a clear need for new river crossings has been identified in east London, but a lack of political leadership has seen plans shelved repeatedly. Without new crossings congestion will continue to get worse and the area will never realise its full potential. To solve that problem, the government and GLA must work together as a matter of priority to establish a special purpose company with the sole objective to deliver a package of crossings east of Tower Bridge.”

She added: “The Dartford Crossing is the least reliable section of the strategic road network. The DfT’s own figures show that the congestion delays at this pinch point cost the economy £15m every year. Yet ministers have done little over the past five years to build the kind of consensus between local authorities that is required in order to reconcile national transport objectives and respect local concerns. Worse, they have now said no final decision will be taken until as late as 2016.”

Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), said: “We hope that a new government will act quickly to get projects moving, supporting growth in the Thames Gateway, which will in turn support new housing to address the capital’s homes crisis.

“The development of infrastructure in the UK has, historically, lacked a long term strategy, and large projects have taken too long to develop and build. That’s why CECA has campaigned for an independent commission for infrastructure, established with cross-party support, to analyse the strategic opportunities facing the UK, facilitate private sector investment, and deliver the infrastructure that the UK will rely upon in years to come.”

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) also agreed that better planning was needed. “All too often we seek to just unblock the congestion we currently have rather than considering the long-term needs of the country, said Malcolm Bingham, FTA’s head of goad network policy. “We fail to plan adequately for future development and growth and this lack of action is constraining the competitiveness of the UK.”

Colin Stanbridge, Chief Executive of LCCI said: “Nearly half of London’s population lives east of Tower Bridge yet they are served by only two fixed road river crossings. It is an area with huge amounts of potential and while the Olympics acted as a crucible for creativity and dynamism in the area, its future growth is being held back by this gap in transport infrastructure.

“We know that the Mayor shares our enthusiasm for helping the east of the capital to maximise its exciting reinvention. The area is currently attracting the worlds brightest and best whether to the financial heartland of Canary Wharf, the Royal Docks development or the high-tech firms flocking to Silicon Roundabout in Shoreditch.

“New road river crossings linking east and south east London over the Thames will bring new jobs and homes to an area of the capital that has been overlooked for too long.”

OBAS CEO Norman Tenray commented on this project saying: “London is a central driving force for the UK’s economy and it’s essential we provide the maximum amount of connectivity between different areas of the capital in order to maximise the potential of that engine.”

“These huge construction projects are also tremendously beneficial to the construction industry, where they provide jobs and growth and where they tend to push the use of construction supplies and construction materials to the next stage by focussing on innovation at the design stage.”

Posted in News By

Simon Dalley