Tower Bridge ban squeezes BlockwaII
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DRIVERS diverted from Tower Bridge because of the newly imposed 5-ton-unladen weight limit have been caught out by two different maximum heights on the bores of the Blackwall Tunnel.
Southbound drivers have a height restriction of 15 feet but northbound the restriction is only 13ft 4in — and there is little warning of the restriction before drivers reach the tunnel.
With Tower Bridge closed to much of the heavy traffic heading south, reports have been coming in of vehicles losing the tops of body and trailers.
First warning of the low level northbound bore is on the A102 motorway one mile from the entrance — but any vehicle over the 13ft 4in height limit is forced on to a slip road to retrace its route.
Direction signs to the tunnel two miles away at the junction of Rochester Way and the South Circular Road carry no warning of the height limit.
This week a Greater London Council spokesman told CM that the signposting fopr the tunnel had been agreed by the police and the existing signs were felt to be sufficient.