Route used by thousands of drivers daily to close for 3 DAYS next week with regulars advised to plan ahead

DRIVERS have been advised to plan ahead as a major route is set to close for three days next week.

Part of the Blackwall Tunnel is due to shut as work continues on a new £2.2billion road tunnel which links East London to the Greenwich Peninsula.

The 0.9 mile (1.4km) river crossing is planned to open next year and will link Silvertown, in Newham, to the peninsula in south-east London.

Work to complete the final road layout will see the southbound section of the Blackwall Tunnel closed on 20-22 July.

More disruption is then expected next month as it will then close again on 17-19 August.

The northbound route of the tunnel will stay open, Transport for London (TfL) as said.

Motorists are advised to plan ahead and take a different route, during the closures.

The 108 bus, the only one that operates through the tunnel, will be cut in two - running between Lewisham and North Greenwich, and between Canning Town and Stratford.

Passengers who use the Jubilee line to complete their journeys will get an automatic refund.

Travellers will not be charged for further bus journeys once they have crossed the river, just as long as they begin within an hour of getting on the first bus.

Each Saturday, the closures will begin at midnight, with the southbound traffic restored by 5am each Monday at the latest.

The forthcoming closures are the latest in a series, with the most recent ones taking place last month.

TfL's director of capital delivery, Nick Fairholme, said: "We are now in the final phase of works to complete the Silvertown Tunnel, and these closures will help us to start to get the tunnel ready to open.

"We appreciate that these planned weekend works will have an impact on some drivers and are doing everything we can to limit potential disruption, including ensuring a northbound route through the Blackwall Tunnel is maintained throughout.”

It comes as drivers will be charged to use the Blackwall Tunnel from 2025.

London's Labour mayor has been given permission for new road tunnel signs introducing new fees for motorists across the capital.

Mr Khan's Transport for London authority has drawn up new signs which reveal motorists face paying up to £8.50 per time to use the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels from 2025 onwards.

It is currently free to drive through both the Blackwall and Rotherhithe tunnels, while the Dartford Crossing has a £2.50 toll.

In March 2022, travel chaos erupted after a power cut shut the Blackwall, Rotherhithe and Limehouse Link tunnels.

The power went down due to a fire in Poplar, East London.