Search

Environment We’re designing the Lower Thames Crossing to be the greenest road ever built in the UK The Lower Thames Crossing will create bigger, better and more connected habitats for wildlife  and the local community. Green by design We’ve used your feedback to improve our plans to reduce our impact and enhance the local environment. Building a tunnel rather than a bridge will avoid protected wetlands on the banks of the River Thames 80% of the road will be below ground or behind a cuttin…

Almost 40 miles of new or improved pathways proposed by the Lower Thames Crossing In this section National Highways is one of the biggest builders of pathways in the UK and the Lower Thames Crossing will add or improve almost 40 miles in total - 3 miles for every 1 mile of new road. These new or improved pathways are designed to encourage active travel and promote health and wellbeing across the region. Our plans include new or improved bridges and pathways for walkers, cyclists and horse ri…

Benefits of the Lower Thames Crossing The new road crossing will improve journeys and unlock growth Quicker, safer and more reliable journeys The Lower Thames Crossing would: Tackle congestion by taking over 10 million vehicles away every year from Dartford and free up almost a full lane of traffic Almost double road capacity across the Thames East of London with three new lanes in each direction Improve journey times – 30% better at Dartford and 46% better between Tilbury and Medway Crea…

Using the zero-emission fuel to power our biggest construction machinery In this section We will make our construction sites diesel free by using hydrogen and biofuel to power heavy construction, alongside electric vehicles and equipment. Why Hydrogen?  Traditionally the construction industry has been reliant on diesel to power heavy machinery which are hard to electrify and not suitable for batteries due to their significant power requirements. Hydrogen-powered construction equipment can r…

Hole Farm is a new 100-hectare multi-purpose woodland, sitting alongside the M25 at the northern end of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing In this section Hole Farm will include facilities for the local community such as: Café and WC facilities: providing a welcoming space for visitors to enjoy refreshments. All Abilities Loop and Network of Paths: including a fully accessible loop designed for people of all abilities. Visitors’ Car Park with EV charging provision: Offering convenient acces…

How police and structure authorities can use the ESDAL system. In this section Vehicle or load movements that exceed standard dimensions are called “abnormal loads”. Hauliers must: notify the police of their intention to move abnormal loads alert the owners of any bridges and structures that cross, or are crossed by, the route they plan to use. If you are: an abnormal loads police officer the owner of a bridge or structure on or adjacent to National Highways network you can use National…

Images from our traffic cameras are Crown copyright protected. We permit access to traffic camera images under Licence with authority delegated from the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO). Licensees are required, among other things, to: credit the source of the images as being from our traffic management cameras acknowledge the Crown copyright status of the images Additionally, some users will need to: pay the marginal direct costs incurred by us in providing a connection …

A state-of-the-art broadband link has been completed between Brentwood and Basildon In this section We’re working in partnership with South Essex local authorities to create a fibre route that addresses poor connectivity in rural areas within the Lower Thames Crossing corridor, including South Ockendon, Bulphan, West Horndon, and Great Warley. With funding from National Highways Lower Thames Crossing, a state-of-the-art broadband link has been completed between Brentwood and Basildon. This is…

Over the last 60 years, the Dartford Crossing has played a vital role in bringing new opportunities within reach of those living in Kent and Essex In this section The Dartford Crossing is currently the only way to cross the Thames east of London by road and links the counties of Essex and Kent via the cable-stayed, 137 metre high Queen Elizabeth II bridge for southbound traffic and two 0.8 mile long tunnels for northbound journeys. The Dartford Crossing, also known as the A282, connects direc…

One way that National Highways monitors the safety of the strategic road network is by calculating and monitoring road traffic collision and casualty rates. We do this by using traffic data and STATS19 data (road traffic collision and casualty records collated and managed by the Department for Transport). We expect these rates to fluctuate from road to road, between different road types and from year to year. This is because, fortunately, road traffic collisions are quite rare given how many mi…