Lower Thames Crossing
The Lower Thames Crossing, or Third Thames Crossing, is a proposed new road crossing of the River Thames estuary linking the county of Kent with the county of Essex through Thurrock. The route was confirmed on 12 April 2017 by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. It is designed to relieve the pressure on the existing A282 Dartford Crossing. After consideration, changes have been made to the plan to make it less obtrusive: the junction with the A226 has been eliminated, and the upgrade extended to the M2, junction 1.
The crossing itself will cost £6.8 billion, but investment in local roads is also likely to be necessary to deal with the predicted increases in traffic once the crossing opens.
Route
Key elements will be a twin-bore tunnel crossing under the River Thames east of Gravesend and Tilbury, linked north of the river by a new road to the M25 between junctions 29 and 30 while south of the river the new road will directly join the A2 at Thong east of Gravesend. It will run west of Shorne, not to the east, as a result of consultations.There will be three junctions: Orsett on the A13, Thong on the A2 and north-bound slip roads on the M25 at junction 29. Junctions have been removed on the A226 south of Chalk and on the A128 at Chadwell St Mary in Essex.
Proposals
In January 2009, the Department for Transport proposed three major options to increase capacity east of London over the River Thames to be built downstream of the existing Dartford Crossing and an additional proposal to increase capacity at the Dartford Crossing.- Option A: Building an additional road crossing at the current Dartford Crossing in addition to the current two tunnels and four-lane bridge.
- *Option A Route 14: Proposed tunnel. This proposal suggested 40% of strategic long distance traffic would use this new route, significantly freeing up the overcapacity 50 mph A282 crossing. Area covering junctions 2, 1, 31 and 30.
- Option B: A new road crossing in the Swanscombe Peninsula area, connecting the A2 near Dartford to the A1089 road, north of Tilbury Docks. This option was dropped in 2013 because of the proposed London Resort.
- Option C: A new road crossing connecting the M2/A2 in the south with the M25, which might be linked via a proposed new Thames flood barrier. The route from the north would pass close to or through North Ockendon, South Ockendon, Orsett, Chadwell St Mary, West Tilbury, East Tilbury, across West Tilbury Marshes before it crossed the Thames just to the east of Gravesend and Thurrock. It would join the M2/A2 in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and in the Special Landscape Area. This proposed link is also within the Kent Downs AONB and special landscape area. According to the DfT, this long route would have "considerable environmental impacts". Option C has several variations, three possible routes to the north of the river, known as Option C Routes 1,2 and 3 respectively. To the south of the river, the two options are known as the Western and Eastern southern links.
- Also: Increased capacity on the current Dartford Crossing at a lower cost. This option did not accommodate the predicted traffic growth in the longer term.
Currently, there is a ferry service operating between Gravesend and Tilbury, which predominantly carries foot passengers and bicycles, Monday to Saturday.
2020
Highways England issued revised proposals in 2020 based on the previous Option C. The proposed route would run from the M25 at North Ockendon to the A2 at Thong, including an intermediate junction with the A13 and A1089 roads. The route would be 14.3 miles including 2.6-mile in twin tunnels, and would be an all-purpose trunk road rather than a motorway.History
A study on a Lower Thames Crossing providing "relief to east side of the M25 between Kent and Essex" was included in the 1989 white paper Roads for Prosperity.The Lower Thames Crossing was recommended for further investigation in the 2002 ORBIT Multi-Model Study, which examined orbital transport problems around London.
In 2008, Metrotidal Ltd proposed the "Medway-Canvey Island crossing", a £2bn to £4bn combined road and rail tunnel between Medway and Canvey Island that would include a surge-tide barrier and a tidal power plant, which was supported by Kent County Council, Essex County Council, the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership and the Department for Transport.
Following delays in any proposal being put forward by central government, Essex and Kent County Councils intend to create a joint proposal for the construction of a crossing.
In January 2009, the Department for Transport published its own proposals.
In October 2010, a study commissioned by Kent County Council proposed that the northern end of the crossing should bypass the M25 and continue on to connect to the M11 directly. This would presumably be an adaptation of Option C.
In October 2012, plans were announced for a major theme park to be built near Swanscombe. Commenting on road and motorway access to the park, Kent County Council highways chief Councillor Brian Sweetland said that he was looking at a significant variation to Option B: "The possibility of a new Thames Crossing at the Swanscombe peninsula must now be taken very seriously".
On 12 April 2017 the Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling confirmed Option C as the preferred route for the Lower Thames Crossing.
In November 2017, Highways England announced that its 'current thinking' for the design of the route encompassed a number of changes from that of the original public consultation: the route would now avoid a landfill site near Ockendon; the junction with the A13 would be redesigned and the junctions with the A128 and A226 would be removed. Furthermore, the A2 would be widened from its junction with the new crossing approach road to Junction 1 of the M2.
In July 2019, Highways England said they expected to submit a planning application in Summer 2020 and had a target for road opening of 2027.