Lower Thames Crossing approved to ease Dartford pressure

The government has approved the construction of the Lower Thames Crossing, a new road between Kent and Essex that's intended to ease the burden on the Dartford Crossing.

Measuring around 14.5 miles long, it will be a three-lane, 70mph road connecting the A2/M2 junction with the M25 motorway.

This will be done using a pair of tunnels built under the River Thames and measuring 2.6 miles long, making them the longest of their kind in the UK.

According to National Highways, the agency in charge of building and maintaining the UK’s strategically important roads, the Lower Thames Crossing could take some 13 million cars off the Dartford Crossing annually.

This would improve journey times by 30% at Dartford and 46% between Tilbury (Essex) and Medway (Kent), it claims.

National Highways added that the new crossing is needed because the one at Dartford, opened 60 years ago, ”cannot keep up with unprecedented demand”. 

“Designed to handle 135,000 vehicles a day, it now averages 150,000 a day and requires a dedicated team to manage it around the clock,” said National Highways.

It expects usage to rise to an average of 180,000 vehicles per day – the current peak – within 17 years.

It said that the demand means the Dartford Crossing is “one of the country’s most unreliable roads”, with 19 out of 20 northbound journeys delayed during the evening rush hour.

Such congestion costs the UK £200 million per year in time lost, according to National Highways.

Planning of the Lower Thames Crossing began in 2009 and it has cost some £1.2 billion in public spending so far. 

Construction of the road is earmarked to start next year.