The construction of Sadiq Khan’s controversial Silvertown Tunnel for drivers, linking north Greenwich and Royal Docks, has exacerbated “horrendous” levels of dust, nearby residents say.
Gardens, children’s playgrounds, road signage, cars and homes are being caked in dust in West Silvertown, Royal Docks and Greenwich as London’s first new road tunnel in over 30 years is built amid a string of other projects.
West Silvertown resident, Louise, 53, is asthmatic. She can no longer sit in her garden because “all the dust flying about” leaves her struggling to breathe and “always coughing”.
She told the Standard: “I feel like I’m being shut in, like I’m a prisoner in my own home because I can’t even sit in the garden without feeling really rough.”
She added: “The dust is horrendous….it’s killing the environment and ruining my life.”
Construction of the Silvertown Tunnel began in March 2021 and is due to finish in 2025, despite campaigners claiming it will worsen air pollution.
The £2bn PFI scheme from Mayor Sadiq Khan has been hailed as an exemplar project that will help to boost London’s economy.
But it has been opposed by both Newham and Greenwich councils who say it will encourage car use and result in more HGVs entering inner London.
Mr Khan remains committed to the new tunnel, which he says will ease chronic congestion at the Blackwall tunnel.
Louise - who has lived in the neighbourhood for 21 years - said dust levels have worsened this year as boring machines create the tunnel.
Her garden faces North Woolwich Road, the road opposite the construction site.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you wash the windows, they just get filthy again. We wash the cars regularly and later in the day, they’re just filthy again.
“I can’t have washing out in the garden… and if you have the window open, just to get some air inside the house, all the dust comes inside making the furniture filthy, it’s awful.
“It’s making our lives horrible.”
She said other projects nearby, including restoring the derelict Millennium Mills, development of Britannia Village Hall and roadworks, are also contributing to the dust.
“I think the tunnel has made things worse because they’re digging through the ground, which is obviously creating more [dust],” Louise siad.
A community group, Stop the Silvertown Dust, has been lobbying to stop the spread of dust caused by industrial businesses around West Silvertown since July 2020.
Members, along with members of the Newham Green Party, protested the construction of the Silvertown Tunnel in 2021.
But Newham Greens co-chair Rob Callender, who lives in Royal Docks, said dust has become “noticeably much worse over the last year” and it’s “very likely” increased under the Silvertown Tunnel construction.
He said the ongoing problem is a combination of construction dust from various sites and an aggregate yard nearby.
He told the Standard: “None of these [sites] are doing what they should be doing to suppress dust, including trucks opening their dust covers before they arrive and not closing them before departing, as well as no water suppression.
“[Dust] covers the road markings and when wet, blocks the drains and makes the surface slippery with mud - so [it’s] very dangerous. The streets should be cleaned more regularly and the source of dust suppressed.”
It’s understood spoil from the Silvertown Tunnel is being taken away via barge on the Thames.
Newham Greens councillor Nate Higgins said the dust is the nail in the coffin for the Silvertown Tunnel project.
“Once it’s constructed, it will have horrible effects on air quality in the area, in one of the most polluted boroughs in the country,” he told the Standard.
“And it’s already having that impact just from the construction alone. Residents deserve better than this.
“You don’t see this on every construction site, so there’s clearly a problem in how it’s been managed.”
Mr Higgins said “it’s not too late” for Mayor Sadiq Khan to “think again” about the purpose of the Silvertown Tunnel.
Although construction has already begun, a report by Sian Berry in December 2022 offered several alternatives for the project, including a two-way tram link, a DLR extension and a walking and cycling tunnel.
But a spokesperson for Mayor Khan said he has “no plans to review the scheme” which is at an “advanced stage of construction and is set to deliver considerable benefits for both local residents and London’s transport network as a whole when it opens in 2025.”
The spokesperson added that the new tunnel will “improve air quality in the area” and a toll charge will ensure “there is no increase in traffic overall”.
A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: “TfL and Riverlinx are committed to working considerately alongside the community and minimising the impact of any works.
“Site-specific dust control measures, which were approved by the council, are in place and include the use of road sweepers, regular damping down during warmer weather and real time dust monitoring.
“We are committed to delivering an overall improvement in air quality as a result of the scheme. As part of making sure this happens, we began a comprehensive programme of monitoring in 2020 and have regularly published reports and monitoring data which helps our understanding of local air quality.”
A spokesperson for the Silvertown Partnership, working on the Millennium Mills project, said: “We use water spray and mist to combat dust at Silvertown and continuously monitor air quality in line with national guidelines for demolition and construction sites.
“Our monitoring equipment has recorded a ‘very low’ level of dust throughout construction to date.”
