"The Mayor and Transport for London have recently announced plans for a number of new road schemes, including river crossings at Silvertown and Gallions Reach and a 22 mile orbital tunnel which would take traffic under the capital."
"Boris Johnson is set to leave Londoners a legacy of expensive, polluting roads which put cars ahead of public transport and cycling according a new report published by City Hall’s Green party politicians." -
See more at:
http://smartertrends.co.uk/articles...a-polluted-city-bu/#sthash.6x5p1xrx.dpufObviously not content with the spending on CrossRail, somebody thought of this to spend money on. Might we suspect that the new river crossings would be free?
Those tunnels will be very useful when an east coast tidal surge, with a following wind and heavy rain overcome the Thames Barrier and return London to it's earlier condition!
The Dartford Tunnel is a nightmare. I know someone who used to take his breakfast (His bowl of Alpen,milk and toast !) with him and eat it as he waited in the queue. That was about 20 years ago. Imagine what it's like now! Approx. 130,000 vehicles a day. Queensway takes 35,000 a day
There are over 30 bridges crossing the Thames and the reasons are probably something to do with the following.
Alternative routes
The crossing is the easternmost road crossing of the River Thames, and the only one that is east of Greater London. The next nearest vehicle crossings to the west are the Woolwich Ferry and the Blackwall Tunnel, both well within East London. There is no official diversion route through London for high vehicles. When the bridge is closed, vehicles over 5.03 metres (16.5 ft) are diverted around the M25 in the opposite direction.[11]
A number of new crossings have been proposed as relief for the Dartford Crossing. The proposed Thames Gateway Bridge to the west was given planning permission in December 2004, but was cancelled in November 2008 when Boris Johnson became Mayor of London.[12] Johnson subsequently proposed the Gallions Reach Ferry, a ferry crossing in the same location, as an alternative.[13] The Lower Thames Crossing is a proposal for an alternative crossing, most likely a tunnel, to the east. Thurrock Council suggest that this crossing will be essential for managing congestion.[14] In July 2014, the government announced it would develop further plans for an alternative route. Option A is an additional crossing at the current location, while option C is a new crossing east of Gravesend
