UK GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES EXTRA £174M FOR LOWER THAMES CROSSING

The UK government has earmarked an additional £174m for the Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel, bringing the total planned public expenditure on the project to £3.1bn. The Department for Transport confirmed the extra funding will cover public works on both sides of the tunnel and will be drawn from existing budgets. The proposed route runs beneath the River Thames between Kent and Essex and carries an estimated total cost of £11bn. The project has drawn scrutiny over its cost per mile, which is estimated to exceed that of the HS2 high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham.

The government plans to supplement the £3.1bn of public money with a further £7.5bn from a private sector partner. A licence to operate the new tunnel, along with the existing Dartford tunnel approximately seven miles to the west, is expected to be awarded to a private consortium in 2029 on a perpetual basis, subject to regulatory oversight. Construction is currently scheduled for completion in 2034. The Department for Transport previously took direct control of the project, removing National Highways from its lead planning and oversight role.

The Department for Transport has not yet published an outline business case, a document typically produced before large-scale works begin. The government allocated £590m to the project in the 2025 spending review and a further £891m in the autumn 2024 budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander have both stated the crossing is vital and will reduce congestion on the M25. Critics have raised concerns about what they describe as spiralling costs on one of the UK's largest planned infrastructure projects.