Mayor urged to reverse Thames Gateway Bridge decision

Peter Baber, Regen.net, 14 July 2009

In its response to a consultation on Johnson’s transport strategy, the Labour group called for the immediate reinstatement of six scrapped schemes, including the Docklands Light Railway extension to Dagenham and the Cross River Tram, all of which the group said would improve both public transport and London’s carbon footprint.

Labour’s transport lead on the London Assembly Val Shawcross claimed Johnson’s decision to scrap the Thames Gateway Bridge would be most damaging of the six, because the £300 million PFI credits that had been ascribed to it would now be lost.

"The biggest funding gap I saw on the bridge was £100 million," Shawcross told Regen.net. "So it’s clear that the bridge was scrapped not on financial grounds, as was suggested, but because of the objections of Bexley Council. Newham and Greenwich Councils are trying to see if they can keep the scheme alive."