Reeves ploughs another £590m into over-budget Lower Thames Crossing
Rachel Reeves has announced she will spend £590 million of the Government's infrastructure fund on the Lower Thames Crossing, which is six years delayed and more than £3 billion over budget before construction has even begun.
The Chancellor said 'critical funding' freed up in her spending review last week would be spent on the 'long-awaited' project, which at 2.6 miles will be the longest tunnel in the UK road network.
The tunnel under the Thames Estuary, first proposed in 2009, is designed to reduce pressure on the Dartford crossing and will directly connect Essex and Kent.
The project was originally expected to receive planning permission in 2020 and be completed by 2026, but has been delayed by six years amid a row over planning permission.
The cost estimate for the tunnel has risen from £5.3 billion when it was first conceived to £9 billion, and is likely to be even more expensive by the time construction is completed in the early 2030s.
More than £1.2 billion of public money has been spent on planning permission, legal fees and consultants.
The injection of new funding comes from a £1 billion pot for transport infrastructure, which will also repair bridges, tunnels and flyovers across the UK.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said that more than 3,000 bridges across the country are unable to support heavy vehicles, while the number of bridge collapses has soared.
Ms Reeves said: 'When it comes to investing in Britain's renewal, we're going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers, and ensuring they are fit to serve working people for decades to come.
'Today's investment also goes even further and faster to spread growth by providing to take forward the Lower Thames Crossing – not just boosting connectivity in the South East, but ensuring a smoother, less congested passage of vital goods from Europe to our regions.'
The Lower Thames Crossing was pitched as a way of increasing capacity for vehicles driving around London, including heavy goods vehicles arriving in the UK from the EU.
The Dartford Crossing has been over capacity almost every day for at least five years, other than during Covid-19 lockdowns.
The bridge has a capacity of 135,000 vehicles a day, but carries more than 180,000 on its busiest days, according to DfT data.
But the tunnel has faced local opposition from campaigners on both sides of the Thames Estuary, who argue it will lead to more freight traffic in previously quiet areas.
Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, said: 'We're finally getting on with the Lower Thames Crossing – a crucial project to drive economic growth that has been stuck in planning limbo for far too long.
'This 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.
'Our structures fund will make long-overdue investments to repair ageing structures across the country, speeding up journeys, restoring pride and delivering our plan for change to boost the economy and support regional growth.'
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