If/When they eventually build the new lower Thames crossing, the plans (I believe) are than due to the newer safety standards, these dangerous loads would not need an escort through. The logical next step is that they would then be banned from Dartford making it flow far more smoothly, even ignoring that fact that a percentage of the traffic would be diverted to the new crossing as well.
They should scrap HS2 and spend the money on a new Thames crossing for haulage only. That would have a much bigger benefit to the economy than a 20 minute shorter train journey.
But a new Thames crossing wouldn't be any quicker than the existing one unless they can somehow make the lorries travel at 100 mph. Why build a bridge just to save a few seconds in time to cross a river!
Or maybe, it has something to do with increasing capacity and cutting congestion - just as HS2 will have almost as much capacity as the East and West coast lines combined and free up these lines for commuter traffic.
My experience of travelling via the crossing over the last 30 years have been that it got better when they added the bridge but even better when they got rid of the toll booths. Still queues going back to J3 a couple of times a week, but sometimes that is due to problems on the A2 or just the A2 junction itself.
I worked in Brentwood in 1989 & 1990 & living in Dartford it could take just 20 mins after 10 pm - morning rush hour I had to allow an hour. Coming home I lost count the amount of times I queued from just after J29......found lots of backroads that led up to Thurrock & so easy access to the Tunnel (as was then).
If/When they eventually build the new lower Thames crossing, the plans (I believe) are than due to the newer safety standards, these dangerous loads would not need an escort through. The logical next step is that they would then be banned from Dartford making it flow far more smoothly, even ignoring that fact that a percentage of the traffic would be diverted to the new crossing as well.
Have said for years now though that if they ban dangerous loads from the Dartford Crossing then Jct2 of the M25 will need to be revamped too
Is a junction I use everyday to get home from work (provided that the crossing hasnt backed up) and even on a clear day you can be queuing for 5/10mins on the Roundabout to get on the A2 and that increases come Christmas due to everyone going to Bluewater.
Combine that with more lorries using that junction its going to be a new section of the Motorway that wont be able to cope with the numbers and will be like the rebuilding of London Bridge station where the issues dont go away yet just happen further back down the line
A 10 week public consultation on the latest designs of the Lower Thames Crossing has opened.
A new road linking Kent and Essex would almost double capacity across the River Thames, Highways England has said.
The route of the new road tunnel under the river would also almost halve the northbound crossing times at the Dartford Crossing, the agency said.
A 10-week public consultation on the latest designs for the Lower Thames Crossing has opened.
It is claimed the scheme will be the largest road upgrade project since the building of the M25.
The planned new 14.5 mile (23km) long three-lane dual carriageway would connect the M2 near Rochester and the M25 in Essex between North and South Ockendon and include a 2.4 mile (3.8km) tunnel between Gravesend and Tilbury.
Adam Holloway, the Conservative MP for Graversham in Kent, previously described the Lower Thames Crossing as "a crazy idea" and "a disaster for the people of Dartford".
I’ve got an account for Dart Tag & the thing that pisses me off is the emails saying that my account has fallen below the minimum level & when you login, there’s 8 quid in the account - Dick Turpin’s at that place, minimum is £10 which just sits in their account.
Tried to cancel the account once but they wanted to charge me £15 because I wasn’t able to return the original dart tag that was on the windscreen despite the fact they are now obsolete.
Why can't they just build another bridge for northbound traffic next to the existing southbound one and use tunnels for overspill and high wind days? Road infrastructure already in place...... minimal disruption, or am i being too simplistic?
Why can't they just build another bridge for northbound traffic next to the existing southbound one and use tunnels for overspill and high wind days? Road infrastructure already in place...... minimal disruption, or am i being too simplistic?
I think over simplistic, have you tried moving around around Dartford especially if the tunnels are knackered the blue star roundabout blocks up with idiots normally foreign lorry drivers who drive onto the roundabout and then can’t move thus blocking the east / west route through Dartford. Which after all is the only route for the emergency service, I been stuck beside an ambulance there for 30 minutes.
Hopefully what this will do is divert all the traffic from / to the coast, Medway etc. over the new crossing thus taking that weight of Dartford crossing.
Us in Dartford have lived with this chaos and pollution for far to many years and with the increase in housing, theme parks etc., then something needed to have been done years ago, so it was up and running already.
I assume it’s a misprint, the gravesend MP would surely say a disaster for Gravesend not Dartford?
Yeah, it's the Gravesham MP who doesn't want it in Gravesham. The Dartford MP does want it in Gravesham, though. We already have more than enough vehicles passing by or through Dartford.
A new tunnel should have been built 10 years ago, pro-actively. It must be the worst place in the country for traffic, AND we get charged for it. Even at weekends it's s***.
Why can't they just build another bridge for northbound traffic next to the existing southbound one and use tunnels for overspill and high wind days? Road infrastructure already in place...... minimal disruption, or am i being too simplistic?
I think over simplistic, have you tried moving around around Dartford especially if the tunnels are knackered the blue star roundabout blocks up with idiots normally foreign lorry drivers who drive onto the roundabout and then can’t move thus blocking the east / west route through Dartford. Which after all is the only route for the emergency service, I been stuck beside an ambulance there for 30 minutes.
Hopefully what this will do is divert all the traffic from / to the coast, Medway etc. over the new crossing thus taking that weight of Dartford crossing.
Us in Dartford have lived with this chaos and pollution for far to many years and with the increase in housing, theme parks etc., then something needed to have been done years ago, so it was up and running already.
If the Lower Thames Crossing can solely take the traffic to and from the coast without the need to use the whole of the M25 / A2 then its probably going to work - What wont work (and is what I'm mainly against) is the fact that there will still be accidents between Jct 2 of the M25 and the Dartford Crossing, when that happens everyone will flood towards the Lower Thames Crossing and thats where the troubles will begin.
Junction 2 after all is nothing more than a Light controlled roundabout - Its a junction I use every day to get home (If I can use the M25) and even now it can take a good 10mins to get from M25 to A2 because of the amount of traffic that currently uses it.
Ideally when they updated this junction going from A2 (Westbound) to M25 (Northbound) they should have thought about the future Lower Thames Crossing by making it easier to flow from M25 (Northbound) to A2 (Eastbound)
As it is I see a scenario like the way London Bridge has recently been built where the trouble remains yet in a smaller area and bottle necks just a bit further back down the road / line (In that case: Lewisham)
The whole area from the M2 / M20 across to swanley and Eltham and across to the Thames need looking at as a whole, not individual parts in my opinion, they got the opportunity the restructure the lot, bet they don’t take it.
The whole area from the M2 / M20 across to swanley and Eltham and across to the Thames need looking at as a whole, not individual parts in my opinion, they got the opportunity the restructure the lot, bet they don’t take it.
Completely agree else they're going to be playing catch up as each problem develops rather than be proactive and seeing where problems may happen further down the line and dealing with them straight away
Doesnt help that Politicians these days dont like to think ahead too much as they know if they spend money on something that doesnt give instant results, it'll make them look stupid or cost them their job
The whole area from the M2 / M20 across to swanley and Eltham and across to the Thames need looking at as a whole, not individual parts in my opinion, they got the opportunity the restructure the lot, bet they don’t take it.
Completely agree else they're going to be playing catch up as each problem develops rather than be proactive and seeing where problems may happen further down the line and dealing with them straight away
Doesnt help that Politicians these days dont like to think ahead too much as they know if they spend money on something that doesnt give instant results, it'll make them look stupid or cost them their job
What’s so annoying you know that it’s not going to happen and chaos will reign for tens of year to come. One of my suggestions would be to only have an exit of the M2/A2 for the new bridge London bound, this would make it hard for M25 traffic to use the new bridge. Also only allow access to the M25 from the A2 to go towards Gatwick, thus stopping any traffic coming up from the coast from using the tunnel. Yes it would cause some inconvenience but it might solve some of the traffic chaos.
Comments
Or maybe, it has something to do with increasing capacity and cutting congestion - just as HS2 will have almost as much capacity as the East and West coast lines combined and free up these lines for commuter traffic.
I worked in Brentwood in 1989 & 1990 & living in Dartford it could take just 20 mins after 10 pm - morning rush hour I had to allow an hour. Coming home I lost count the amount of times I queued from just after J29......found lots of backroads that led up to Thurrock & so easy access to the Tunnel (as was then).
Is a junction I use everyday to get home from work (provided that the crossing hasnt backed up) and even on a clear day you can be queuing for 5/10mins on the Roundabout to get on the A2 and that increases come Christmas due to everyone going to Bluewater.
Combine that with more lorries using that junction its going to be a new section of the Motorway that wont be able to cope with the numbers and will be like the rebuilding of London Bridge station where the issues dont go away yet just happen further back down the line
A new road linking Kent and Essex would almost double capacity across the River Thames, Highways England has said.
The route of the new road tunnel under the river would also almost halve the northbound crossing times at the Dartford Crossing, the agency said.
A 10-week public consultation on the latest designs for the Lower Thames Crossing has opened.
It is claimed the scheme will be the largest road upgrade project since the building of the M25.
The planned new 14.5 mile (23km) long three-lane dual carriageway would connect the M2 near Rochester and the M25 in Essex between North and South Ockendon and include a 2.4 mile (3.8km) tunnel between Gravesend and Tilbury.
Adam Holloway, the Conservative MP for Graversham in Kent, previously described the Lower Thames Crossing as "a crazy idea" and "a disaster for the people of Dartford".
Opponents raised objections to the route saying it would cut through greenbelt land, and was too close to homes and schools.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45799384
Just get on and build the damn thing if thats what your going to do regardless of public opinion
Tried to cancel the account once but they wanted to charge me £15 because I wasn’t able to return the original dart tag that was on the windscreen despite the fact they are now obsolete.
Hopefully what this will do is divert all the traffic from / to the coast, Medway etc. over the new crossing thus taking that weight of Dartford crossing.
Us in Dartford have lived with this chaos and pollution for far to many years and with the increase in housing, theme parks etc., then something needed to have been done years ago, so it was up and running already.
I'm thinking the same as Kerry and it would be a good thing.
A new tunnel should have been built 10 years ago, pro-actively. It must be the worst place in the country for traffic, AND we get charged for it. Even at weekends it's s***.
Junction 2 after all is nothing more than a Light controlled roundabout - Its a junction I use every day to get home (If I can use the M25) and even now it can take a good 10mins to get from M25 to A2 because of the amount of traffic that currently uses it.
Ideally when they updated this junction going from A2 (Westbound) to M25 (Northbound) they should have thought about the future Lower Thames Crossing by making it easier to flow from M25 (Northbound) to A2 (Eastbound)
As it is I see a scenario like the way London Bridge has recently been built where the trouble remains yet in a smaller area and bottle necks just a bit further back down the road / line (In that case: Lewisham)
Doesnt help that Politicians these days dont like to think ahead too much as they know if they spend money on something that doesnt give instant results, it'll make them look stupid or cost them their job