Blackwall & Silvertown 14‑Day Night Work Outlook

I’m sharing this because TfL has confirmed specific night‑time works and lane closures at both the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels that are likely to ripple across key east London corridors — and the details just came out of an FOI request.

Transport for London’s own transparency release confirms that overnight snagging and maintenance works at Silvertown have been done (with some reverse‑flow snagging already finished in early April) and there are ongoing ad‑hoc single‑lane closures at night — typically between 22:00 and 05:00 — while an upcoming Pavilion Lane bus‑slip closure is flagged though not yet confirmed.

On the Blackwall Tunnel, planned night maintenance runs from roughly 22:00–05:00, with northbound closures on the first and second Tuesdays of each month and southbound closures on the third and fourth Tuesdays; TfL explicitly states that both tunnels won’t be shut at the same time for planned works.

These works don’t show as major incidents on the official corridor status boards right now, but they do tend to clog the usual river crossing routes — especially the A102 approaches into the tunnels and radial connectors like the A2 and A13 — so drivers should expect boosted queuing and longer journey times even outside official work windows.

If you’re planning trips through East London at night over the coming weeks, factoring in these closures and typical diversion pressure can save significant unexpected delay.

When?

1. Silvertown Tunnel works

Reverse-flow snagging works
→ Completed: 9–10 April 2026 (overnight)
→ These were short-term commissioning works right after opening

• Ongoing snagging/adjustments
  → No fixed end date
  → Occur ad-hoc overnight, typically:

  • 22:00 → 05:00

  • Usually single-lane closures, not full shutdowns

• Pavilion Lane bus slip closure
  → Mentioned, but no confirmed date yet
  → Expect a future short-term closure window (TBC)

2. Blackwall Tunnel maintenance schedule

This one is structured and predictable:

• Every month (recurring):

  • 1st & 2nd Tuesday:
    → Northbound closed

  • 3rd & 4th Tuesday:
    → Southbound closed

• Hours (all cases):
  → 22:00 → 05:00

• Important constraint:
  → Transport for London explicitly states that both tunnels are not planned to be closed at the same time.
  
  
  Sources:

  • Transport for London — planned engineering works (FOI disclosure)
    👉 https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-4908-2526

  • Transport for London — live traffic status
    👉 https://tfl.gov.uk/traffic/status