Transport bosses have outlined how the £10bn Lower Thames Crossing will become the greenest road in Britain. The Lower Thames Crossing is a major infrastructure project linking Kent and Essex, designed to ease congestion at the Dartford Crossing and improve connectivity between the south-east, Midlands, and the North.
Main construction could begin as early as 2026, with the road expected to open in the early 2030s. Controversially, £1.2bn of taxpayers’ money has already been spent on the planning phase of the project since it was first mooted in 2009.
Sixteen years on National Highways got the green light from the government to go ahead with the project which should be completed by 2032. As part of efforts to minimise the environmental impact 80 per cent of the route between Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in Essex will be in a tunnel or hidden behind landscaped embankments.
National Highways believes this will help it blend into the countryside the road will pass through. It will also contain seven new green bridges – one of which set to be the widest in Europe – to make it easier for people to pass through green spaces.
Other new methods being used include plans for pre-fabricated bridges to minimise disruption for drivers in the area, low carbon footbridges constructed without concrete and slick gantries made with no steel. These gantries are also designed to obscure the view of the road as little as possible.
Pictures of the crossing designs will be shown to residents across Kent, Essex and East London who will live closest to it.
A National Highways spokesperson said: “The Lower Thames Crossing, a new road linking Kent and Essex, is one of Britain’s leading economic infrastructure projects.
“It will drive growth by tackling congestion at the Dartford Crossing and providing a new reliable link between the ports of the south-east, the Midlands and the North. The project includes 14.3 miles of new road and Britain’s longest road tunnel, a 2.6-mile twin-bore tunnel beneath the River Thames.
“Designed to be Britain’s greenest road, the Lower Thames Crossing has taken a new approach to road design and building by cutting construction carbon and restoring nature. The project will create six times more green space than road, including one million new trees, a new community woodland, two new public parks, and seven green bridges that will blend the road into the landscape and connect local communities to the countryside.”
See below for the pictures.
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