KENT — The UK government has allocated an additional £174 million in funding for the Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel project. This added funding will be drawn from existing budgets to finance public works on both sides of the tunnel without the Department for Transport (DfT) publishing an outline business case for the project.
The proposed crossing is an £11 billion road tunnel under the River Thames connecting Kent and Essex. The DfT has assumed direct control of the project from National Highways. Construction for the crossing is scheduled for completion in 2034.
Roads campaigner Rebecca Lush said: "At the autumn budget, the chancellor announced the 'final tranche' of public funds for the Lower Thames Crossing. Yet now we find out that the DfT have bunged another £174m towards this privatised road project, whilst refusing to publish the outline business case."
She added: "The spiralling costs and secrecy have all the hallmarks of HS2, with LTC already costing more per mile than HS2. Whilst the government is nationalising the railways it is privatising our roads, demonstrating the utter incoherence in transport policy."
A DfT spokesperson said: "We have committed £3.1bn to the Lower Thames Crossing to date, including £891m to complete the publicly funded works needed to unlock private investment. While no decisions have been made on how users will be charged, any tolls will be regulated by an independent regulator to keep prices fair for drivers."
The funding allocation is part of a plan that involves £3.1 billion in public money and a projected £7.5 billion private sector investment. The government previously allocated £590 million to the project in the 2025 spending review. Additionally, a road investment strategy document published in March allocated the additional £174 million to the project. The government allocated £891 million to the project in the autumn budget.
A licence to operate the new tunnel and the existing Dartford crossing is expected to be awarded to a private consortium in 2029. This operation would then be managed in perpetuity under regulatory oversight.