The Government has granted planning permission for the controversial Lower Thames Crossing, greenlighting the UK’s most significant road project in a generation.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has approved the development consent order and the Government is currently exploring private finance options for the National Highways project, which is expected to cost around £9bn.
Construction could start as early as 2026, with the new road expected to open in the early 2030s.
The 14-mile A-road will link the A2 in Kent with the A13 and M25 in Essex through the longest road tunnel in the UK.
The project will connect Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in Essex, improving connectivity across vital ports and between the South-East, the Midlands and the North.
It will also tackle congestion, including long-standing problems at Dartford which is the only road crossing across the Thames east of London.
Planning for the project first started in 2009 and has already cost around £1bn of taxpayers’ money in consultations and redesigns.
Business group Logistics UK said the crossing is nationally significant and will drive growth across the whole economy.
Chief executive David Wells said: “Businesses up and down the country are currently hamstrung by delays crossing the Thames, so the Government’s decision to approve the Lower Thames Crossing development consent order today is excellent news. The scheme has been in the planning stages for over a decade and this is a momentous decision: industry is united in its backing for this vital trade route and when completed will unlock UK logistics, drive growth and help keep supply chains moving across the whole country.”
And Nick Fenton, CEO of business development consultancy Locate in Kent, said the decision was a vital move towards ensuring Kent and Medway has the capacity to keep traffic and freight moving.
“This new route is urgently needed, not least in supporting the Government’s house building and growth agenda for the UK economy. Not going ahead would have sent an unwelcome signal to business and investors, that we’re not a country that invests for the long-term.
“Today’s decision to grant planning approval for the Lower Thames Crossing should also be a time for policy makers at all levels to reflects on what needs to be done to remove obstacles to delivering the infrastructure needed as a nation to deliver future growth. That includes pressing ahead with planning reform and further incentives that will attract investment to pay for further improvements, from widening the M2 to restoring international rail services to the county.”
But anti-roads campaign group Transport Action Network (TAN) has said the project will require “huge quantities of concrete as well as unleashing a huge wave of traffic in the middle of a climate emergency”.
Posting today on X, the group said: “There are alternatives to the Lower Thames Crossing. The Government has chosen to go down the route of another hugely expensive road that will only provide a few years of relief at Dartford.”
National Highways claims the scheme is the first in a new generation of projects that will accelerate the construction industry’s move to net zero by using fuels such as hydrogen to power its construction fleet and only using low-carbon concrete and steel.
It’s also said the project will restore nature across Kent and Essex by delivering six times more green space than road.
Before main construction gets underway, the project and its three delivery partners will work with local authorities, landowners and stakeholders to on detailed planning to “further reduce the impact of construction on the local community and environment, and embed new and emerging low carbon technologies and materials”.
