A late Freedom of Information response from City Hall has left unanswered all thirteen questions put to the Mayor of London by Havering MP, Julia Lopez, about the Gallows Corner debacle.
The replacement of the 1970s Gallows Corner flyover has caused months of disruption for commuters, Havering residents and local businesses after the original September 2025 completion date was missed.
Mrs Lopez, who represents Hornchurch & Upminster, submitted her questions after meetings with transport and water executives unearthed tensions over TfL’s decision to replace and reroute a major water main at the same time as renewing the flyover.
Transport bosses have refused to reveal the cost of the water main replacement, which Essex & Suffolk Water had not considered necessary. There are now fears it could cost more than the flyover replacement itself with TfL and the taxpayer footing the bill.
Last month it emerged London's transport body was the most indebted local authority organisation in the UK in 2025, holding almost £14 billion of debt, while rows rage on over how to fund other major transport projects in the capital, from the Hammersmith Bridge repairs to station upgrades in outer London.
The GLA says it received Mrs Lopez’s request on 10 July but failed to respond until 12 August when it was chased for comment on the Gallows questions by a journalist.
Its entire substantive response to the thirteen questions was: “The GLA has not located records within the scope of your requests.”
The unanswered questions include:
- The original budget and current projected cost of the water main replacement.
- Whether TfL has sought additional funding from the Department for Transport.
- Why TfL decided that the water main needed to be replaced.
- The effect of the Government’s pause on capital funding.
- What representations the Mayor has personally made about business rates relief for affected firms.
- What support the Mayor’s office has offered Havering Council.
- Whether the Mayor has personally attended or chaired any meetings about Gallows Corner.
Separately, Mrs Lopez has now received a letter from Deputy Mayor for Transport, Seb Dance, who also dodged questions about what went wrong at Gallows Corner, what the water main replacement has cost and when the critical junction will finally reopen.
It has also been revealed that Gallows Corner was among the major transport projects affected by a pause put on capital spending by the then Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, when Labour entered government. When the decision was eventually unfrozen, it is understood a series of rushed design were made to meet the original delivery timetable that affected investigative works for the water main replacement.
The Gallows works raise major questions about whether TfL will be able to keep the replacement of the Lodge Avenue flyover on the A13 to time and budget. The road is critically important to the routes into London from ports and distribution hubs in Essex and the east of the capital. Mr Dance has said that TfL and ESW will conduct a review of the Gallows project to ensure lessons are applied to Lodge Avenue but without answers to basic questions, doubt has been cast on any review’s effectiveness.
Julia Lopez MP said:
“City Hall’s FOI response is even more extraordinary than the Mayor’s original silence. After missing the statutory deadline, City Hall has reduced 13 serious questions about a major infrastructure failure and the use of public money to a single sentence saying it can locate no relevant records.
“Several of my questions were addressed directly to the Mayor. I asked what representations he had made to help businesses, what support his office had offered Havering Council and whether he had personally attended any meetings about Gallows Corner. City Hall claims to have found no records answering any of them.
“The Mayor’s deputy has now written on his behalf, but his letter simply repeats updates that TfL and Essex & Suffolk Water have already provided. It gives no reopening date, no explanation of the decision to replace the water main, no cost figures and no account of what the Mayor has personally done to support those affected.
“The Mayor has shown disinterest to the point of contempt towards the residents and businesses enduring this disruption. Some businesses are fighting for survival, yet neither Sir Sadiq nor his former deputy and now Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, has had the courtesy to reply to my direct pleas themselves.
“Sir Sadiq has sole political responsibility for TfL. He cannot claim to be closely monitoring Gallows Corner while his own authority says it has no records answering basic questions about his involvement. Either the Mayor has not meaningfully engaged with this crisis or City Hall cannot properly account for what he has done. Neither explanation is acceptable.
“This comes as TfL’s debts continue to spiral and Londoners across the capital are crying out for investment. The Mayor cannot continue to claim poverty while spraying taxpayers’ money on bad decisions, allowing fare evaders to slip away and repeatedly dipping into the pockets of residents through ULEZ, fare rises and congestion charges.
“My constituents have waited long enough for Gallows Corner to reopen. They should not now be sent around the houses between City Hall and TfL simply for asking what went wrong, what it has cost and who is responsible.”
Susan Hall AM:
"Khan has given up on Gallows Corner, now barely able to even answer questions submitted to him regarding it. Meanwhile residents' lives are made misery by congestion and disruption as a result without any answers as to why or for how much longer they will be expected to endure. It's disappointing that Havering Council haven't done more on this either, but thank God for Julia Lopez & Havering Conservatives picking up the slack to hold this useless Mayor, TfL, and Havering Council responsible for this farce."
