Government pledges £590m for Lower Thames Crossing
Ministers have pledged another half a billion pounds for the Lower Thames Crossing as part of the Government's 10-year plan for infrastructure.
The further £590 million – out of the budgets announced at last week's spending review – will go towards the road crossing that will link Kent and Essex.
A new structures fund will also invest in repairing bridges, flyovers, tunnels and other transport infrastructure such as roads.
The Lower Thames Crossing is aimed at reducing congestion on the Dartford Crossing, with a new motorway-style road.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said that the project is 'essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long-term trade with Europe'.
'It will speed up the movement of goods from south-east England to the Midlands and the North, crucial to thousands of jobs and businesses,' she added.
Rachel Reeves has said that ministers are 'going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers'.
The Chancellor added: 'This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we're backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities, delivering on our plan for change.'
It comes ahead of the Government's infrastructure strategy, expected this week, while public procurement rules are set to be overhauled so that public bodies will have to give more weight to firms which can prove they will boost British jobs when they are bidding for contracts.
The Chancellor outlined a raft of infrastructure investment as part of last week's spending review.
According to Wednesday's announcement, there will be £39 billion over the next 10 years to build affordable and social housing, and spending is due to reach £4 billion a year in 2029-30.
There was also a £30 billion commitment to nuclear power, including £14.2 billion to build the Sizewell C plant in Suffolk and £2.5 billion for small modular reactors, as well as £15 billion for public transport projects in England's city regions and a four-year settlement for Transport for London worth £2.2 billion.
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