M25 bottleneck may be eased
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THE GOVERNMENT has ordered an 18-month study with a view to building a third Dartford Tunnel or a bridge, Transport Minister Lynda Chalker has announced.
Traffic studies carried out earlier this year have shown that the existing two duallane bored tunnels under the Thames would reach the limit of their capacity by the midNineties, she told MPs.
The consultants urged that an engineering study should be carried out to determine the best method of providing additional crossing capacity at Dartford.
"After consultation with Kent and Essex County Councils, who have joint responsibility for the existing tunnel, I have decided to commission an engineering study to report as soon as practically possible.
"Any commitments to Construction of additional crossing capacity will depend on a sound economic ease based on sustained future traffic growth.
Mrs Chalker pointed out that grants of £21m had already been made to Kent and Essex County Councils for improvements to the approach roads and toll passes so that toll collection did not lead to queues.
The report urging a study into a third crossing was carried out by Brian Colquhoun and Partners together with Mott, Hay and Anderson. Their report was presented to Ministers on June 3.
They concluded that within the next few years, traffic demand could be expected to start exceeding road capacity. By the end of the decade, excess demand was likely to be causing delays at peak times during average months and delays of up to an hour in peak periods during the summer.
Even with the construction of the East London River Crossing, delays would continue to increase at Dartford, the consultants said.
Mrs Chalker told a press conference last week: "It could be another tunnel, bridge or sunken tube."
The first Dartford Tunnel was opened in 1963 and a second was added in 1980. In January 1984 the M25 was completed between Dartford and the A l(M).