Proposals for the new Thames Tunnel to intercept untreated sewage overflows have raised construction problems.
The west to east underground route is roughly below the River Thames with access points.
The good news is that revised plans for the works leave the Thames Path largely untouched.
Worksites on the key right bank (or south) have been moved or even set back from the river.
So, for example, the towpath at Barn Elms is now unaffected.
The biggest objections have been downstream of Tower Bridge where the green grass of King’s Stairs Garden at Rotherhithe was to have been closed for some time. Now the work will be just upstream on Chambers Wharf. This is a ‘brownfield’ site so far not opened up to the Thames Path.
At present the wharf is built out into the river but after tunnel work is complete the wharf would be reduced in size with provision for the Thames Path. This must be a good decision even if some local people are opposing it.
There are two worksites off Nine Elms Lane but the Thames Path will still briefly return to the river at Tideway Walk by Nine Elms Pier.
One reply on “Thames Tunnel and Thames Path”
Your article is misguided. Chambers Wharf is not a “brownfield” site, it’s a site awaiting redevelopment amidst very dense residential concentration and a number of adjacent schools.
You are correct to say that the Thames Path doesn’t currently pass through CW, which is a pitty. Residential development plans for the site were going to offer a magnificient way through it, as early as 2013. If TW’s crazy plans go ahead – inclusive of a “cofferdam” extending 50m into the river – the Thames Path will be all but interrupted, having to share the access route to the mother of all industrial sites with 24/7 operation. Restoring the path as you describe could possibly be achieved by 2026-7 if we’re lucky (and still alive…)
There are alternatives to this monstrous, ruinous Super Sewer project that will achieve a clean river and are cheaper, more environmentally friendly and less disruptive for the Thames Path *and* human beings who happen to live nearby; refer to the conclusion of the independent Thames Tunnel commission chaired by Lord Selborne.