The government has granted development consent for National Highways’ A122 Lower Thames Crossing project.

The scheme will tackle long standing congestion at Dartford and improving connectivity between the South-east, the Midlands and the North.

For more than 60 years the Dartford Crossing has stood as the only road crossing across the Thames east of London, making it one of the country’s most vital trade routes that connects some of the UK’s busiest ports to the rest of the country.

But National Highways says it is now used by far more traffic than it was designed for and acts as a bottleneck that causes delays and diversions that holds back the country’s economy.

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. 

It will ease congestion at Dartford by almost doubling road capacity across the Thames east of London and make tens of millions of journeys quicker, safer and more reliable every year.

The government is currently exploring private finance options for the project.

National Highways says construction could start as early as 2026, with the new road expected to open in the early 2030s.

Matt Palmer, National Highways executive director Lower Thames Crossing, said: “The Lower Thames Crossing is one of the UK’s most important infrastructure projects.

“It will unlock growth with quicker, safer, and more reliable journeys and redraw the blueprint for building major projects in a net zero future by scaling up the use low-carbon construction and leaving a legacy of green spaces and green skills.

“Our plans have been shaped by the local community and refined by robust and rigorous examination from independent experts.

“We are more committed than ever to working with our neighbours to build the crossing in a way that offers them opportunities to work and learn new skills while reducing impacts.

“We are shovel ready and have our delivery partners on board, and today’s decision allows us to work with government on funding and start the detailed planning that will let us start construction as soon as possible.”

During construction the project will give a boost to British jobs and skills by working with specialist suppliers from across the UK, and will employ almost half of its workforce locally, training them to build the Lower Thames Crossing and equipping them with the skills to take on future projects.

Before main construction gets underway, the project and its three delivery partners will work with local authorities, landowners and stakeholders to refine aspects of the design to further reduce the impact of construction on the local community and environment, and embed new and emerging low carbon technologies and materials.

Over the coming months they will also carry out archaeological, ecological, and topographical surveys, as well as further ground investigations to prepare the detailed design and construction plans.

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.  

The National Highways project 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.

This pioneering approach to carbon has cut the project’s estimated construction footprint by around half so far, with a target to achieve a 70% reduction.

The new blueprint for low-carbon construction created on the project is already being replicated across other sectors ranging from nuclear and water to rail and aviation.

Civils contractors have welcomed the news of the project's planning consent.

Director of operations for the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), Marie-Claude Hemming, said: “This is an important milestone in the journey towards delivering a scheme that, once built, will add billions to the UK economy.

“The Lower Thames Crossing will not only drive economic growth and create jobs but will tackle the severe pinchpoint at Dartford that is costing the UK up to £200m a year.

“Now that the scheme has planning approval we call on the UK government to swiftly make a decision as to how it will be funded - whether through the use of private finance or otherwise.

“For the full benefits of the scheme to be realised as soon as possible it is vital that industry can get spades in the ground without further delay, so that industry can deliver a project that will not only benefit businesses communities across the south of England, but will be a driver of growth in the UK economy as a whole.”