Dartford Crossing’s northbound approach has been blasted as Britain’s worst stretch of major road by local MP Gareth Johnson. In the House of Commons on Thursday he said that the free flow system introduced earlier this year “has clearly failed to live up to expectations, leading to horrendous traffic jams in the area”.

Mr Johnson called for a debate on the issue and how the residents of Dartford “are left at the mercy of any incident” that takes place at the crossing.

House of Commons’ Leader Chris Grayling MP responded: “I absolutely understand the knock-on effect on my Honourable Friend’s constituents. It is frustrating that the free flow has not worked better sooner, because it should be a dramatic improvement on what was there before.” Highways England, he added, “needs to get its skates on and deliver a better set up”.

Highways England claimed that the new Dart Charge arrangement is speeding up journeys at the crossing and said it was “fine-tuning” a new traffic safety system introduced in June. Project director Nigel Gray added that the new system is designed “to ensure optimum performance and to maximise traffic flow while maintaining safety.”

Earlier this year TP Weekly News reported that more than one in seven vehicles using the Dartford Crossing shortly after the introduction of free flow tolling last November had failed to pay for their journeys on time. The Highways Agency, as was, had said that 85% of the first two million crossings made after toll booths were removed had been paid for. But this meant around 300,000 journeys were made without payment being received.

Photo courtesy of Highways England