A think tank has called for four new Thames crossings to be built at Silvertown, Gallions Reach, Belvedere and Dartford.

In its Linking London report the Centre for London, chaired by former transport secretary Lord Adonis, claims the new infrastructure is needed to "support a wave of new development travelling eastwards along the Thames."

The plans aim to tackle the imbalance whereby there are 16 road bridges on the 20 miles of the Thames west of Tower Bridge, but only one road bridge and two tunnels on the same stretch to the east.

The report argues the new crossings would cut journey times across the river by 40 minutes, fuel the development of 45,000 homes and 60,000 jobs and improve the productivity of businesses in the area by £55 million a year.

In a column for The Evening Standard Lord Adonis said: "It is time to decide and then build.

"London will not expand successfully to the east until the Thames can be crossed as easily there as it is in the west."

The report calls for the development of a new crossing near the current QEII Bridge at Dartford to be "brought forward as soon as possible."

The site is one of two still being considered by the Department of Transport for a new lower Thames crossing, along with one east of Gravesend.

News Shopper:

The Greenwich side of the proposed Silvertown Tunnel.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson said: "I agree that we need a further crossing over the Thames but placing it next to the existing crossing at Dartford would not give an alternative to motorists.

"People in Dartford are fed up with the pollution and congestion the crossing creates.

"We need to divert vehicles away from the Dartford area and give a genuine extra option to the motorist.

"Building another crossing at Dartford will not achieve this."

The Centre for London backs a tunnel at both Silvertown and Gallions Reach, linking Thamesmead and Beckton, and calls for them to be prioritised over a crossing between Belvedere and Rainham, which would come later.

The report argues for tolls to be put in place at the new crossings in order to pay for them.

It also backs the establishment of a special company, along the lines of Crossrail, to oversee development of the three crossings inside London.

Bexley Council cabinet member for the environment and public realm, Councillor Don Massey, said: “We welcome the fact that the report makes the case for east and outer east London to play a key role in London’s future growth, but we are not clear about the evidence for some of its assertions.

“We agree that more river crossings are needed east of the Blackwall Tunnel, but it is essential that they are the right crossings and in the right place.

“The report is unclear on how the regeneration case for a Belvedere/Rainham link actually compares to the Gallions Reach link and the quoted costs of both schemes are not comparable, as the Belvedere figure has a much higher contingency at this stage.

“It also fails to acknowledge that the proposal for a crossing at Belvedere has already gained widespread support beyond Bexley, despite only recently having being put forward for consultation.

“We believe that crossings at Silvertown and Belvedere should be the priority. However, any crossings that are built must be supported by effective measures to reduce their impact on local people and the environment.”

London Assembly Green Party member Darren Johnson said: “These proposals from Lord Adonis are completely ludicrous.

News Shopper: Dartford Crossing

The Centre for London wants to see a new crossing built next to the existing QEII Bridge.

"Aside from the fact that there would never be enough money available to build four new road crossings across the Thames, these plans - if realised - would bring about a huge increase in traffic that would poison east London’s air.

“The Mayor and Lord Adonis are obsessed with relentless economic growth at all costs and this would spell disaster for residents of Newham, Greenwich, Bexley and beyond.

"They should be putting all their energy into finding ways for Londoners to get around the city that don’t destroy the environment and ruin our communities.

"The evidence shows that there are far more effective ways of supporting businesses and creating jobs than building roads.”

A TfL public consultation on proposals for new crossings finished last month.

Once plans for crossings at Gallions Reach and Belvedere have been developed further, a more detailed consultation is planned for September 2015.