Assurances are needed that Government’s planned Lower Thames Crossing will not hamper the UK’s efforts in meeting its air quality obligations, environmental campaigners have urged.

 

A preferred route for the new £4.4Bn crossing downstream of Dartford was revealed last week. It will create a new link between the A2 in Kent and the M25 in Essex with a tunnelled crossing of the Thames east of Tilbury and Gravesend.

 

The route was identified by the majority of respondents to a public consultation as the best solution for relieving pressure on the Dartford Crossing. But concerns over the environmental impact of the scheme remain and campaigners are urging a rethink.

 

“The UK is failing to meet air quality targets in many areas,” said Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates. “Government needs to solve this crisis as quickly as possible and it cannot afford to add to the problem.

 

“If the proposed Lower Thames Crossing scheme would breach legal limits on air pollution by any significant amount then it absolutely should not be allowed to go ahead.”

 

Highways England claims that air quality limits at properties along the proposed route will not be exceeded. However the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s director Hilary Newport argued: “This will devastate the countryside and the environment and will not solve the terrible congestion problem at Dartford.”

 

Jenny Bates also suggested that the project may generate new traffic and worsen congestion in the wider region. Instead she called for efforts to get cars off the road by improving public transport and making it more affordable, and introducing clean air zones in areas where pollution exceeds legal limits.

 

Thurrock is one such area and local councillors have expressed serious disappointment at the Lower Thames Crossing announcement. “We don’t want the queues, congestion, and pollution shifted five miles downstream as a new motorway cuts our borough in half,” commented Thurrock Labour group leader John Kent.

 

“It is obviously the wrong decision for Thurrock and we continue with our objections to this flawed plan,” added leader of the Conservative group and Thurrock Council Rob Gledhill.

 

Campaign for Better Transport sustainable transport campaigner Bridget Fox suggested: “Instead of squandering billions on yet another expensive new road that will inevitably fill up with traffic, a better solution would be to expand port capacity north of the Thames, improve freight and passenger rail links to Kent and look at measures like distance based HGV charging to better manage traffic.” 

 

But Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said: “This route will greatly improve journeys as well as unlocking more than £8Bn of economic benefits and create some 6000 jobs.”

 

Essex County Council director for highways and transportation Andrew Cook said: “This crossing is a big step forward to ending costly traffic queues that often form around the Dartford Crossing and can tail back onto our county’s roads.”

 

Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jo James said: “This decision sends the strongest possible message to business that the Government recognises the importance of investing in our strategic infrastructure in order to build a strong national and regional economy.”

 

(Photo: Highways England)