Blackwall Tunnel

The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels beneath the River Thames in east London. It links the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich as part of the A102 route. The northern entrance sits just south of the East India Dock Road in Blackwall, while the southern portals lie near The O2 on the Greenwich Peninsula. Transport for London manages the crossing, which carries both local and longer-distance traffic between north and south of the river. Before the Dartford Tunnel opened in 1963, it was the easternmost all-day vehicle crossing of the Thames. The first bore opened in 1897 after years of planning and construction. It was designed by Sir Alexander Binnie and built by S. Pearson & Sons, with Ernest William Moir as lead engineer. The Prince of Wales formally opened the tunnel, which cost £1.4 million and employed 800 men; seven workers died during the build. Its southern entrance gateway, designed by Thomas Blashill in Art Nouveau style, still stands today. The tunnel originally carried foot, cycle, horse-drawn and motor traffic before becoming vehicle-only. The second bore opened in 1967 to ease congestion. It is wider and carries southbound traffic, while the original tunnel now handles northbound vehicles. The eastern tunnel has straight alignments and ventilation towers designed by Terry Farrell. Both tunnels now have height restrictions and carry London Buses route 108 between Lewisham and Stratford. The Silvertown Tunnel, opened in 2025, now shares the crossing’s traffic load.