Thames tunnel opponents in last-ditch bid to halt £1.2bn scheme

Opponents of a new four-lane tunnel under the River Thames are making a last-ditch attempt to halt the £1.2bn scheme, which they say will be environmentally destructive and cripplingly expensive. Victoria Rance, from the Stop Silvertown Tunnel Coalition, called on the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, to investment in river crossings for pedestrians, bicycles and cargo bikes instead of “locking in car use” for decades. She said the project was a “[Boris] Johnson era monstrosity” that undermined efforts to clean up the capital’s air as well as the mayor’s wider environmental targets – with dire consequences for some of the London’s most vulnerable citizens. A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said: “A new tunnel at Silvertown is important as the existing infrastructure is both antiquated and worn out. “His bold London Streetspace plans will create one of the largest car-free zones in any capital city in the world, and are making it safer and more convenient for millions more journeys to be made on foot or by bike.