Concerns are mounting that road tolls could be imposed on a third river crossing in east London.
It comes despite Transport for London commissioner Andy Lord insisting there were “no plans” to start charging drivers to use Rotherhithe tunnel.
Critics suspect that many motorists will divert to the 116-year-old tunnel, which lies east of Tower Bridge and links Rotherhithe and Limehouse, when £4 rush-hour tolls are introduced next Spring at the Blackwall and new Silvertown tunnels.
Mr Lord, asked at a City Hall meeting whether he could “rule out” tolling Rotherhithe if motorists used it instead of Blackwall or Silvertown, said: “There are no plans for any introduction of tolling at Rotherhithe.”
But he suggested this could change if money had to be raised to repay the cost of a long-awaited upgrade. At present, the tunnel is closed every Monday night for maintenance.
In addition, Rotherhithe has height and weight restrictions and cannot be used by HGVs or large vans.
It was closed for much of Tuesday due to problems with its fire safety system.
Mr Lord told the London Assembly: “We have to do some significant refurbishment and upgrade works at Rotherhithe, if we get the funding for that, so we will need to consider how we pay for that. But we have no plan to introduce any toll or charge for Rotherhithe.”
Tory assembly member Thomas Turrell, who had sought assurances over Rotherhithe, said he came away from the meeting “more concerned” at the possibility of tolls than he was previously.
Mr Turrell told the Standard: “When the words ‘no plans’ are uttered, there is no reassurance in that, as the mayor [Sadiq Khan] previously said he had ‘no plans’ to extend the Ulez to outer London.
“For the TfL commissioner to start by saying there are ‘no plans’ – these famous words – only to then circumstances in which tolling could be introduced, did concern me.
“What I was really looking for was for the commissioner or the mayor to categorically rule out tolling the Rotherhithe tunnel during this mayoral term.”
Mr Khan said in July 2021 that he had “no plans to extend the Ulez to outer London” - but expanded the clean air zone two years later.
The mayor told the assembly that TfL had already modelled the likely impact of traffic displaced from the Blackwall tunnel switching to Rotherhithe or Tower Bridge.
He said: “There shouldn’t be increased usage for either Tower Bridge or the Rotherhithe [tunnel], because it’s just too far away from those tunnels you pay a user charge for.”
TfL has been urged to reconsider the £4 proposed peak charge, which would be £1.50 more than the levy to use the M25 Dartford crossing, and to provide residents living near the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels with more generous discounts.
At present, Mr Khan plans to offer 50 per cent discounts to low-income Londoners in 10 east and south-east London boroughs.
By contrast, residents of Dartford and Thurrock can use the crossing – via a bridge for southbound traffic and two tunnels for northbound traffic - 50 times a year for a single £10 fee, or enjoy unlimited annual crossings for £20 a year.
