Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether contingency measures have been considered to reduce congestion at Dartford if the construction of a Lower Thames Crossing does not reduce congestion at Dartford; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Hayes
Work is ongoing to analyse the traffic flows and traffic modelling in relation to the Lower Thames Crossing scheme as part of further development of the proposals.
Highways England is continuously reviewing the performance of the Dartford Crossing following the introduction of the Dart Charge scheme in 2014 and as part of the wider strategic road network.
As part of the Roads Investment Strategy, Highways England is continuing to invest in other local improvements to the A282/M25 corridor which includes the Dartford Crossing.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures are being considered to reduce congestion at Dartford (a) before and (b) after the construction of a Lower Thames Crossing; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Hayes
Studies regarding traffic congestion near the Dartford Crossing about A282 junctions 1a, 1b and M25 junction 2 have been completed to see what improvements could be made and these studies have informed the package of local improvements that is now being carried out by Highways England and Kent County Council. At junction 1a, yellow box markings have been added and the traffic signal timings have been optimised. Signal timing reviews at junctions 1b and 2 should be completed by the end of December 2016. In addition, journey time sensors are now being installed on the approaches to Dartford to improve the information being given to drivers and to improve the management of traffic to ease congestion more quickly. These measures are designed to improve local traffic flow at these junctions. The whole package of works is due to be completed by December 2017.
Highways England will continue to look for ways to improve traffic flows at the Crossing and on the surrounding network. For the period from 2020 and beyond, the Government is looking at what further measures can be taken. This is being considered through the current round of the Route Strategy Studies, which will inform road investment priorities for 2020 – 2025 and beyond.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times per month traffic is stopped at the Dartford River Crossing to allow crossing control vehicles to escort hazardous vehicles through the tunnels for each of the last 12 months for which information is available; and what estimate he has made of the number of escorts per month that will be required following the construction of a Lower Thames Crossing by each crossing option currently under consideration for the Lower Thames Crossing.
Answered by John Hayes
The total number of occasions where traffic was stopped at the Dartford Tunnel Crossing to allow crossing control vehicles to escort hazardous vehicles in the last 12 months are as follows:
Nov-15 | Dec-15 | Jan-16 | Feb-16 | Mar-16 | Apr-16 |
2306 | 2410 | 2410 | 2340 | 2537 | 2238 |
May-16 | Jun-16 | Jul-16 | Aug-16 | Sep-16 | Oct-16 |
2230 | 2197 | 2248 | 2144 | 1920 | 1932 |
It is important to note however that when possible Highways England will escort hazardous vehicles when the tunnel is already closed to remove oversize vehicles from the carriageway, avoiding the need for additional closures. Such occasions are included in the above figures.
Highways England ensures that every opportunity to escort hazardous vehicles, without the need for additional closures, is utilised.
The Lower Thames Crossing has not yet modelled the potential reduction in the number of escorted vehicles per day. This is something which would be part of future work.
Asked by: Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the designated monthly capacity of the existing Dartford River Crossing is in each direction.
Answered by John Hayes
The designated capacity of the Dartford Crossing northbound is 65,000 vehicles and southbound is 70,000 vehicles a day. These figures are calculated by day, as the number of days in a month fluctuates.
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 29 and 3 in a clockwise direction joined the M25 (a) before junction 30, (b) at junction 30, (c) at junction 31, (d) at junction 1a, (e) at junction 1b and (f) at junction 2; and in each such case how many of those vehicles left (i) at junction 30, (ii) at junction 1a, (iii) at junction 1b, (iv) at junction 2 and (v) after junction 2.
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.