Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will (a) set out the data sources, supporting information and the assumptions used and (b) estimate traffic volumes per (i) day and (ii) peak hour for (A) Option A14 and (B) Option C of the Lower Thames Crossing Option on (1) the existing Dartford Crossing, (2) a new Option A14 crossing, (3) a new Option C crossing, (4) the A282 between junction 30 and junction 2 of the M25, (5) the A2 between the M25 and the A227, (6) the A2 between the A227 and the M2, (7) the A227 between the A2 and the A20, (8) the A228 between the M2 and M20 and (9) the A229 between the M2 and the M20.
Answered by John Hayes
a) The data sources, supporting information and assumptions used in Highways England’s traffic modelling have been set out in the Pre-Consultation Scheme Assessment Report which is available on the Lower Thames Crossing public consultation website.
b) The estimate of traffic volumes requested for Option A14 was aggregated in terms of changes in traffic flows across the network, and then compared with other options (including Option C) in terms of overall economic performance. Consequently the breakdown of traffic volumes is not currently held in the form requested. The estimate of traffic volumes for selected links for Option C is reported in the Pre-Consultation Scheme Assessment Report.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a revised estimate of traffic volume forecasts for 2025 and 2041 as published in tables 4.3 and 4.4 of volume 5 of the Lower Thames Crossing Pre-Consultation Scheme Assessment Report, published in January 2016, using information from traffic surveys undertaken since that report was published, including information from ANPR cameras and traffic counters.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England will produce revised traffic volume forecasts as part of the development phase of the scheme.
These forecasts will be informed by data collected from a number of sources, including ANPR cameras and traffic counters. This revised modelling work is expected to be completed in 2018 at the earliest.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place the cost-benefit analysis of Option A14 of the Lower Thames Crossing in the Library; and what the data sources and supporting information were for that analysis.
Answered by John Hayes
Option A14 for the Lower Thames Crossing was assessed by Highways England as part of the Options Phase appraisal. The cost-benefit analysis demonstrated that the route would represent poor value for money with a benefit-cost ratio of 0.4.
The appraisal was based on a level of design development and environmental assessment appropriate for the wide range of options considered at this early stage of the project. The cost-benefit analysis uses costs built-up from Highways England’s cost database for UK highways projects, the results of traffic forecasting for this option which include greenhouse gases, accidents, vehicle operating costs, noise, reliability and wider economic impacts and have been measured in line with DfT’s WebTAG guidance. As requested, the cost-benefit analysis will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses shortly.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2016 to Question 54114, how many times per month traffic is stopped at the Dartford River Crossing to allow hazardous and oversized vehicles to use the tunnels for each month since November 2016; what the average duration of each such stoppage has been; and when the future work referred to in his Answer will be undertaken to model the potential reduction in the number of escorted vehicles per day.
Answered by John Hayes
The number of times that traffic has been held at the Northbound Dartford Crossing on a red light in order to escort vehicles are as follows;
Nov-16 | Dec-16 | Jan-17 |
2218 | 2184 | 2487 |
This does not count the total number of occasions when escorts occurred. To minimise the number of times necessary to hold traffic to escort vehicles, staff are trained to conduct escorts when traffic is held at red lights by the Traffic Safety System for others reasons e.g. extracting an over height vehicle before it enters the tunnels.
Due to a number of operational activities carried out at the same time as the escort it can be difficult to determine an exact average duration that each escort may take.
However, the majority of escorted dangerous goods vehicles and abnormal loads going through the Dartford tunnels do take less than two minutes on each occasion. A new arrangement is being developed to accurately measure the duration of each crossing and Highways England anticipate making decisions on when new arrangements could become available later this year.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential number of vehicles using (a) the Dartford River Crossing and (b) a Lower Thames Crossing in each direction following the opening of a Lower Thames Crossing broken down by each option under consideration for that crossing in (i) the month before opening, (ii) the month after opening, (iii) each month in the fifth year after opening, (iv) each month of the tenth year after opening, (v) each month in the fifteenth year after opening and (v) each month in the twentieth year after opening.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England does not hold the data for the specific dates requested.
Highways England carried out traffic modelling as part of the appraisal process for the Lower Thames Crossing. Modelling was conducted for the years 2025 and 2041. The categorisation of crossings was for the current use of the Dartford Crossing and was categorised into local, regional and long-distance traffic. The appraisal and data was available as part of the materials to inform public consultation held earlier this year.
Analysis is ongoing to better understand the categorisation of traffic flows and traffic modelling as part of the wider analysis of the 47,034 responses to the public consultation that took place earlier this year.
Highways England will be reporting findings and a recommendation to the Department for Transport. The Secretary of State for Transport will take a decision on the location, route and type of crossing in due course.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate how many vehicles per day using all or part of the M25 between junctions 3 and 29 in an anticlockwise direction joined the M25/A282 (a) before junction 2, (b) at junction 2, (c) at junction 1b, (d) at junction 1a and (e) at junction 30; and in each such case how many such vehicles left the M25/A282 (i) at junction 2, (ii) at junction 1a, (iii) at junction 31, (iv) at junction 30 and (v) after junction 30.
Answered by John Hayes
This information is not held.
The Department produces estimates of the number of vehicles per day using the main carriageway between motorway junctions (but not when they join and leave), available at the following link:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-counts/index.php.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of crossings at (a) the Dartford River Crossing and (b) a Lower Thames Crossing (i) before and (ii) after the construction of a Lower Thames Crossing to be categorised as (A) local, (B) region, (C) long-distance, (D) national and (E) international for each option under consideration for the Lower Thames Crossing.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England does not hold the data for the specific dates that you have requested.
Highways England carried out traffic modelling as part of the appraisal process for the Lower Thames Crossing. Modelling was conducted for the years 2025 and 2041. The categorisation of crossings was for the current use of the Dartford Crossing and was categorised into local, regional and long-distance traffic. The appraisal and data was available as part of the materials to inform public consultation held earlier this year.
Analysis is ongoing to better understand the categorisation of traffic flows and traffic modelling as part of the wider analysis of the 47,034 responses to the public consultation that took place earlier this year.
Highways England will be reporting findings and a recommendation to the Department for Transport. The Secretary of State for Transport will take a decision on the location, route and type of crossing in due course.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the monthly volume of vehicles using the Dartford River Crossing is in each direction for the last 12 months for which information is available by toll-tariff categories.
Answered by John Hayes
Based on data collated using the Dart Charge service, the average monthly volume of vehicles using the Dartford River Crossing is 1,986,584 for the northbound and 2,014,834 southbound.
The attached tables shows the volume of vehicles using the crossing (when the charges apply) between 6am and 10pm every day, including Christmas and other bank holidays.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the predicted effect on congestion and uninterrupted free-flowing traffic on the M25/A282 at Dartford of (a) Option C and (b) A14 proposals for a Lower Thames Crossing; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England does not hold the data for the specific dates that you have requested.
Highways England carried out traffic modelling as part of the appraisal process for the Lower Thames Crossing. Modelling was conducted for the years 2025 and 2041. The categorisation of crossings was for the current use of the Dartford Crossing and was categorised into local, regional and long-distance traffic. The appraisal and data was available as part of the materials to inform public consultation held earlier this year.
Analysis is ongoing to better understand the categorisation of traffic flows and traffic modelling as part of the wider analysis of the 47,034 responses to the public consultation that took place earlier this year.
Highways England will be reporting findings and a recommendation to the Department for Transport. The Secretary of State for Transport will take a decision on the location, route and type of crossing in due course.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether traffic flow forecasting and associated modelling in relation to proposals for a Lower Thames Crossing have been based on toll charges at a Lower Thames Crossing being (a) higher, (b) lower or (c) the same as toll charges at the existing Dartford River Crossing.
Answered by John Hayes
Traffic flow forecasting and associated modelling in relation to proposals for the Lower Thames Crossing have been based on charges at a Lower Thames Crossing being the same as the road user charges at the existing Dartford River Crossing. The modelling that informed proposals for the Lower Thames Crossing public consultation held earlier this year was based on the charges being the same as those charged at present at the Dartford River Crossing.