Transport for London (TfL) is looking at how it could restart the procurement process for work on the Rotherhithe Tunnel.
Earlier this year, TfL was forced to delay its search for contractors to upgrade the Rotherhithe Tunnel due to ongoing funding uncertainty.
In London Assembly meeting papers from February it was revealed that TfL was ready to go to market with a design and build contract to upgrade the tunnel, but procurement was put on ice due to a lack of funding.
However, now that TfL has agreed a long-term funding settlement with government, transport bosses are due to reassess how and when to restart procurement on the Rotherhithe Tunnel.
Agenda papers released ahead of next week’s TfL board meeting state that chief operating officer Andy Lord “would look at the current prioritisation to see if any progress could be made on the project, although it was a significant expenditure.”
Since December 2019, vehicles more than 2m high, 2m wide or goods vehicles weighing more than 2t have banned from the Rotherhithe Tunnel as it has been deemed unsafe until repairs are carried out. Drivers that do not comply could be fined up to £130.
The restrictions were implemented after a detailed analysis of the ventilation system revealed that urgent repair work is needed.
The installation of an over-height barrier to improve compliance of vehicles using the tunnel was carried out at the start of the year.
Repairs to the Rotherhithe Tunnel are part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Surface Transport Asset Renewals Programme, which also includes upgrades to the A40 Westway, Vauxhall Bridge, and Lambeth Bridge.
TfL has repeatedly warned that without funding to carry out vital upgrades Rotherhithe Tunnel – along with five major road bridges – faces “imminent closure”.
The capital’s transport operator has previously estimated that it needs a £2bn investment in its entire road network during the next 10 years to prevent key road bridges and tunnels from shutting.
Last year, TfL meeting agenda papers revealed that the cost of patching up London’s surface transport assets has increased by 762% during the last five years. This includes all bridges and tunnels in the Capital as well as River Thames crossings.
TfL attributes this increase to delays and budget cuts to its surface transport assets renewal programme, which includes major repair work to at risk structures including the Rotherhithe Tunnel, A40 Westway, Vauxhall Bridge and Hammersmith Bridge.
But TfL has also been accused by some corners of neglecting maintenance on these structures in the years preceding the pandemic.
As previously revealed by NCE, more money was spent developing plans for the failed Garden Bridge project than TfL has spent on maintaining 25 River Thames crossings during the last 10 years.
In total, TfL has spent just under £43M on maintaining Thames crossings since 2010 – some £10M less than the £53M spent developing plans for the Garden Bridge under Boris Johnson’s mayorship. (The total maintenance spend only accounts for capital expenditure by TfL and does not include any additional maintenance funding from local councils.)
During the same period, a further £13M was spent developing proposals for a bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf, before the plan was axed in 2019.
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