Huge new £800m tunnel that would end chaos on UK’s busiest motorway

The Lower Thames Crossing, part of a proposed £9 billion road that would connect the M25 in Essex with the M2 and A2 in Kent through a new tunnel beneath the Thames, is expected to become the UK’s longest road tunnel and the widest tunnel in Europe.

The new route has promised to double road capacity over the river east of London to reduce congestion and open up new opportunities.

While the Dartford Crossing is one of the UK’s most strategically important roads, carrying over 50 million vehicles a year and a significant amount of the UK’s port freight, the crossing cannot keep up with the unprecedented demand. Instead it is one of the most “unreliable” roads in the UK.

Having also one of the highest incident rates in the country and costing approximately £200 million per year in congestion, it is believed that the Lower Thames Crossing will be the “solution” to this.

Although there have been concerns over the past few years, with many believing the new tunnel will double the amount of London traffic, the new crossing is expected to tackle congestion by taking over 13 million vehicles away every year from Dartford and improving journey times by 30%.

With over £800m having been spent on the Lower Thames Crossing project to date, it will also double road capacity across the Thames East of London with three new lanes in each direction.

Matt Palmer, Executive Director for the Lower Thames Crossing, has said: “The Lower Thames Crossing is one of the UK’s most important transport infrastructure projects.

It will unlock economic growth by tackling congestion on one of our most vital but congested roads — the Dartford Crossing — and offer a modern and reliable connection between the key ports, distribution hubs and manufacturing centres of the Midlands and the North. 

As the first in a new generation of projects, it will showcase how we can build infrastructure in a way that supports net-zero and leaves a legacy of homegrown green skills and open spaces for the local community.”

At a proposed length of 4.3km and a diameter of 16m diameter, over 80% of the route of the new crossing will be beneath ground or behind landscaped embankments to reduce environmental impact. 

In addition, seven new green bridges will be built and just under 40 miles of new or improved pathways will be created for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders.

Speaking to Jim Dickson, newly elected Labour MP for Dartford, he believes that the Lower Thames Crossing is “a vital piece of national infrastructure that is highly needed” and will not only boost transportation, but also the UK economy.

He added: “As well as unblocking the north and south links across the Thames, it will also ease the congestion in the community where residents face gridlock streets as a result of the Dartford Crossing being over capacity.”

However, a decision on whether the £9 billion plan will go ahead is still yet to be made by the new transport secretary, Louise Haigh. 

This comes after the plans to discuss the development of the Lower Thames Crossing were delayed by six months because of the general election.

As of this week, several ministers, including Dickson, have written letters to the new transport secretary calling for the “urgent approval” of the project.