Blitz Bureau
BRITAIN has given the green light to a new 10-billionpound ($13 billion) road tunnel for the River Thames in southeast England, reported Reuters. The Labour Government has put speeding up the planning process to deliver new energy and transport projects at the heart of its growth agenda since it was elected last year, backing expansion at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. In a post on X, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “When I said I would back the builders, not the blockers, I meant it.”.
“Giving the Lower Thames Crossing the green light will drive growth and make journeys quicker, safer, and more reliable,” he added.
The Lower Thames Crossing, consisting of a tunnel and roads 23 km (14.5 miles) in length, was granted development consent by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, the Planning Inspectorate said. The tunnel will connect Kent, south of the river, to Essex, on the north side, improving connectivity and providing more road capacity for goods to travel between ports and central and northern England.
The idea for an additional crossing in this part of the river east of London was first mooted as far back as 1989. Formally proposed by the then-Labour government in 2009, the crossing has been held up as an example of the difficulties faced in trying to get infrastructure projects off the ground in Britain.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves had said in January that the Government was committed to the Lower Thames Crossing, adding that it was exploring options to privately finance the project.
The estimated cost of the Lower Thames Crossing, which is expected to take six years to build, has now risen to 10 billion pounds from 5-7 billion pounds in 2017.
