The government has announced that it will delay the construction of National Highways’ £8.2bn Lower Thames Crossing scheme, following the previous government’s decision to postpone it earlier this year.
The transport secretary Louise Haigh was expected to make a decision on whether to grant the Lower Thames Crossing by 4 October, after former transport secretary Mark Harper delayed the decision set for June.
The scheme would see a new 14.3-mile 70mph road connecting Kent, Thurrock and Essex, with the world’s third-widest bored tunnel, and help to ease congestion on the Dartford Crossing.
In November 2022, National Highways resubmitted an application for a development consent order (DCO) for the project two years after it withdrew the previous one.
Haigh, in a statement written to parliament, said it was necessary to extend the deadline for a decision on the application under the Planning Act 2008.
Under the 2008 act, a decision on an application must be made within 3 months of receipt of the Examining Authority’s report, unless a decision is made to extend the deadline, which ministers have the power to enact with a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament announcing the new deadline.
The application decision deadline has now been extended to 23 May 2025 to “allow more time for the application to be considered further, including any decisions made as part of the spending review.”
If consent is granted National Highways aims for construction work to start in 2026 with Lower Thames Crossing expected to open to traffic in 2032.
National Highways has announced the delivery partners for the project which include:
- Skanksa Construction UK – £450 million contract for the Kent Roads contract.
- Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd. – £1.2 billion contract for roads North of the Thames
- Bouygues Travaux Publics and Murphy Joint Venture – £1.34 billion contract to deliver the main tunnelling works
- Jacobs – integration partner
- Turner & Townsend – Commercial Partner
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), a representative body for UK infrastructure companies, called the government’s decision to push back the decision on the Lower Thames Crossing disappointing.
CECA Director of Operations Marie-Claude Hemming said: “This is disappointing news for our industry, which has been primed to support the Government in delivering its five growth missions.
“While we understand the importance of ensuring the right decision is made, this last-minute delay will heavily impact upon the confidence and strength of the supply chain, which has primed itself for delivery.
“CECA and the wider industry will continue to make the case for a sensible discussion to be had about how to better unlock infrastructure investment where doing so makes significant housing development more viable.
“We would like to work with the Government and others to better capture the value uplift associated, helping to deliver ambitious targets on new home construction, through projects such as the Lower Thames Crossing.”
This comes two months after the government scrapped plans to deliver the A27 bypass around Arundel and a Stonehenge Tunnel scheme, amid a series of plans that were also binned to reduce government overspend, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves stating: “If we cannot afford it, we cannot do it.”
National Highways projected The A27 Arundel bypass to cost £320 million and the A303 Stonehenge tunnel £1.7 billion.
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