THE largest road tunnel in the UK will be built after a £9 billion plan was approved by the government.
The Lower Thames Crossing would link Tilbury and Gravesend in Kent by two tunnels running underneath the River Thames.
National Highways hoped the road would reduce traffic at the Dartford Crossing by 20% and open by 2032.
The 14.5-mile (23km) road would link the A2 and M2 in Kent with the A13 and M25 in Thurrock.
About 2.6 miles (4.2km) of the route would be underground, with a northbound and a southbound tunnel running next to each other beneath the Thames.
Tuesday’s announcement was 16 years in the making, with the project first mooted in 2009 and more than £1.2bn in taxpayers’ money spent on planning since.
The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration by National Highways on 31 October 2022.
A recommendation for its approval was subsequently made to Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander on 20 March.
National Highways has planned to begin construction in 2026.
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The full government statement
The Lower Thames Crossing will be a new road crossing connecting Kent, Thurrock and Essex. Approximately 14.5 miles (23km) in length, it will connect to the existing road network from the A2/M2 to the M25 with two tunnels (one southbound and one northbound) running beneath the River Thames.
The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration by National Highways on 31 October 2022 and accepted for Examination on 28 November 2022.
Following an Examination during which the public, Statutory Consultees and Interested Parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, recommendations were made to the Secretary of State on 20 March 2024.
This is the 56th transport application out of 151 applications examined to date and was again completed by the Planning Inspectorate within the statutory timescale laid down in the Planning Act 2008.
Local communities continue to be given the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them. Local people, the local authority and other Interested Parties were able to participate in this six-month Examination.
The Examining Authority listened and gave full consideration to all local views and the evidence gathered during the Examination before making its recommendation to the Secretary of State.
The decision, the recommendation made by the Examining Authority to the Secretary of State for Transport and the evidence considered by the Examining Authority in reaching its recommendation are publicly available on the project pages of the National Infrastructure Planning website.
