Urgent calls have been made for a second crossing over the River Thames after traffic chaos at Dartford, labelled the UK’s ‘largest bottleneck on traffic.’
Even those who don’t drive have heard the name Dartford Crossing, the huge bridge over the River Thames connecting the M25 to Essex and Kent.
According to National Highways, an average of 150,000 vehicles a day use the tunnel and crossing – 20,000 more vehicles than it was originally built for.
This is why National Highways and local campaigners are pushing for another crossing further east – the Lower Thames Crossing – to ease congestion in the area.
The Lower Thames Crossing project has been in the pipeline since 2009, but it was delayed further in October when the government’s planning decision was pushed back until May 2025.
However, sustainable transport campaigners have called for the project to be ‘put out of its misery’ after environmental and cost-related concerns.
National Highways said the Lower Thames Crossing would help shift traffic away from Dartford.
It is the only river crossing east of London – compared to 16 crossings between the Blackwall Tunnel and west London.
Jim Dickson, the Labour MP for Dartford, has called for the Lower Thames Crossing to ease traffic ‘misery.’
He told Metro: ‘The crossing at Dartford is effectively the largest bottleneck on traffic in the UK.
‘It represents a single point of failure as the only crossing to the east of the Thames and when it goes wrong it not only blocks the flow of goods to and from ports across to the Southeast but makes the lives of Dartford residents a misery.
‘The proposed Lower Thames Crossing will unblock this misery, create jobs and boost the UK economy.
It is not uncommon for Dartford Crossing to have severe traffic delays if something goes wrong on the A282 or the M25.
In October, drivers were caught in huge queues roads in Kent after a lorry fire on the M25 and oil spillage on approach to Dartford Crossing.
Dartford Crossing carries more than 50 million vehicles a year. Around 40% of them are goods vehicles and a huge chunk of UK port freight relies on Dartford Crossing, National Highways said.
Dartford Crossing has made headlines recently after drivers who had never driven through it were mistakenly charged for it. One woman was driven the Dart Charge 34 times for crossings she did not make.
‘I will do all I can to get this shovel ready project off the ground as soon as possible’
However, the Transport Action Network, a campaign group for better bus and rail services and active travel, said the project should be scrapped.
Chris Todd, the group’s director, said the Lower Thames Crossing ‘just needs to be put out of its misery.’
He continued: ‘Even if the scheme had been approved today, it’s unlikely it would have been open for traffic before 2032 and then was predicted to only give 5 years relief at Dartford.’
He said that approving a £10 billion project that would make carbon emissions ‘worse’ would ‘look odd’ after the government’s announcement to spend £21.7 billion to tackle emissions.
Dennis Mehmed, a hairdresser salon owner from Horton Kirby, Kent, drives regularly near Dartford to get to his business in New Cross, east London.
He told Metro the new crossing is ‘sorely needed,’ saying his morning journeys would be ‘so much easier’ because of it.
When Dartford was badly gridlocked in mid-October due to two separate incidents on the A282 and the M25, it took his daughter four hours to travel just under 20 miles from Medway to his house, he said.
‘They’ve already spent £300,000,000 on negotiations,’ he claimed.
‘It’s going to come. It’s sorely needed. You need to get drivers across the river before the M25.
‘The A2 is a car park from 8am from Dartford onwards. You need to cross them earlier,’ he added.
The project is reportedly Britain’s longest planning application as pages now total more than 359,000 which would stretch for 66 miles if they were printed and laid out, The Times reported.
The Department for Transport extended the deadline for the decision on the planning application made by National Highways until May 23, 2025.
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