No Light at the End of the Tunnel

Tunnel using cricket lovers were disappointed today as the England team slumped to another crushing defeat, this time at the hands of New Zealand by 58 runs. The Kiwis posted a massive 318-7 from 50 overs, and England were only in contention briefly as they staggered to a woeful 260-8.

The WACA in Perth, Australia is approximately 8980 miles from the Blackwall Tunnel.

Tunnel Users Eagerly Await Casino Decision

The Casino Advisory Panel is due to reveal its decision for the first super-casino in the country later this week. The front-runners are believed to be Blackpool, a bracing sea-side resort in the North West of England, and the Dome in Greenwich, South East London. The eastern bore of the Blackwall Tunnel runs under the Dome.

A close friend of a regular user of the Blackwall Tunnel took a break from feeding a pile of cash into a gaming machine at a local pub to tell us "The super casino in the Dome would be great. It would do a fantastic job at addressing the problems of unemployment and social deprivation in the area. There would also be up to 1,250 gaming machines which means there would be so many more opportunities to win compared to the two machines in this pub."

Other cities such as Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff, Sheffield and Manchester also bid for the super-casino but it is not believed that they can match Blackpool for deprivation.

The Dome is less than a mile from the Blackwall Tunnel eastern bore exit, while Blackpool is around 260 miles away. "For convenience of access to and from the Blackwall Tunnel, it is a no-brainer!" said our interviewee.

New Flats in Prime Location for Blackwall Tunnel

Tunnel users who turn left after leaving the southbound Blackwall Tunnel and drive east along the A206 might have seen the orange, blue and grey coloured Mast Quay development by Cromer Homes near the Woolwich Ferry roundabout being built in recent months. People with nearly £1 million to spend now have the chance to purchase a 3 bedroom flat in Woolwich, and still have £25,000 change! The chance to snap up one of these prime apartments in landmark buildings may have seen people flocking through the tunnel to visit. Some visitors may even have ventured into Woolwich town centre itself to sample just how far down "up-and-coming" can be, and might possibly have changed their minds about grasping a genuine real estate opportunity at the beginning of the town's long awaited renaissance while swigging vodka from a bottle with the locals in General Gordon Place.

A close friend of a regular user of the Blackwall Tunnel told us "When you consider the prices in places like Chelsea and Fulham, just under £1 million for a 3 bedroom flat in Woolwich is a bargain. You could pay that sort of price in Hampstead for a 3 bedroom flat, and that is nowhere near as convenient for the Blackwall Tunnel. Woolwich also has a much better selection of pound shops than Hampstead and does not have any nice restaurants."

The Mast Quay development is less than 4 miles east of the southbound exit of the Blackwall Tunnel.

Pope John Paul II Almost Retired

Breaking news on the BBC website states that Pope John Paul II considered early retirement due to ill health in 2000. The Parkinson's suffering Polish pontiff passed away in 2005.

St Peter's Square in the Vatican City is just over 885 miles from the Blackwall Tunnel. Height restrictions in the western (northbound) bore of the Blackwall Tunnel might mean than the Pope would be restricted to the left hand lane only when travelling northbound through the tunnel in a popemobile, despite being the alleged representative of God on earth.

Tunnel Excels Again in Severe Weather Challenge

High winds and rain impacted road, rail, air, and sea travel across the country yesterday, including periods of restricted traffic flow and full closure of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge across the Thames at Dartford. The Blackwall Tunnel was the saviour of many road travellers who were forced to take an alternative route to cross the River Thames. The advanced subterranean design of the Blackwall Tunnel means it can continue to perform well during periods of extreme weather, including high winds.

A previous period of severe travel disruption across the country was due to fog in December 2006. Again the Blackwall Tunnel operations were not impacted (see End to Travel Chaos), and the tunnel continued to serve its many regular and occasional users.

Princess Diana Tunnel Death Inquest Resumes

The inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed has resumed, having been opened and adjourned in January 2004. A preliminary hearing is being held to determine whether joint or separate inquests will be held, and whether a jury should be present.

Diana and Al Fayed were killed in an accident in the road tunnel at the Pont d'Alma, Paris in 1997. The length of this tunnel is significantly shorter than the Blackwall Tunnel, the northbound bore of which is over 1300m.

There was no sighting of a white Fiat Uno entering the Blackwall Tunnel reported during this morning's rush hour. However, a metallic blue Fiat Punto was observed.

Little Chef Relief for Tunnel Users

Several Blackwall Tunnel users honked their horn yesterday on hearing the news that the majority of Little Chef branches were to be saved following the sale of the majority chain's restaurant sites to private equity company RCapital. Nearly 40 Little Chef outlets were to be closed, but this still leaves over 190 restaurants open across the country.

A close friend of a Little Chef regular and frequent user of the Blackwall Tunnel told us "It's a massive boost that so many Little Chef's will be saved. A lot of the food is a bit too much for lard-arses for my taste, but I do like the classic English caff cup of tea and apple pie. I expect some things will change if it is to survive long term, but part of its charm is the fact that it has been almost untouched by progress in the last 25 years." You can almost smell the chips frying, hear the sausages sizzling, and see the ketchup bottles on the tables. Bliss.

There are no Little Chef restaurants within 25 miles of the Blackwall Tunnel.

Personal Blackwall Tunnel Usage - December 2006 Statistics

The final stats for 2006 - The report on my usage in December of the Blackwall Tunnel.

Notes:

• Average northbound crossing time down 30 seconds from November - and the shortest average northbound journey time since collection of the statistics started in September 2006.
• Average southbound crossing time almost unchanged compared to November.
  
• Total time spent in tunnel in December: 1h 03m 31s.
• Average external temperature for morning (around 08.30) and evening (around 18.30) for December was 14.5 C! 14.5C! - This is December in the UK!!
• The average peak tunnel temperature continues to be between 4 and 5 C (northbound) and just over 3C (southbound).
  
• Number of journeys impacted by incidents in tunnel: 1 - Same as for November. There was one major incident resulting in a fatality (19.30 on Monday 18th December) which disrupted tunnel traffic for several hours (see short article in The Wharf newspaper).

Details

	Northbound	Southbound
Number of crossings	14	14
Average Crossing Time	2m 38s	1m 54s
Maximum Crossing Time	3m07s	3m 06s
Minimum Crossing Time	2m 04s	1m 31s
Average Tunnel Peak Temperature	12.7C	12.7C
Average External Temperature	8.0C	9.5C
Maximum Peak Tunnel Temperature	17.0	16.5
Maximum External Temperature	14.0	15.0
Minimum Peak Tunnel Temperature	6.0	6.5
Minimum External Temperature	1.5	2.5
Average Tunnel/External Temperature Difference	7.5	5.5
% Morning Contraflow Acive	21.50	-
% Police presence on Blackwall Lane bus lane	14.30	-

Sorrowful Trip Through Tunnel for Hundreds

The Blackwall Tunnel was subject to countless glum faces yesterday evening, as South East London and Kent based supporters of Charlton Athletic returned home following their team's 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

No flooding was reported in the tunnel as a result of the tears shed by sorrowful Charlton fans. A friend of a Charlton regular said "It is possible that the well of tears for Charlton fans is starting to run dry. The lads didn't do great, and haven't done so all season. The last trip to North London ended in a 5-1 defeat to Tottenham. Next time I am going to cross the river at Tower Bridge."

The Emirates Stadium is just over 7 miles North West of the Blackwall Tunnel.