More than 6,000 people have taken part in a public consultation
into plans for Britain’s biggest roads project for a generation.
Under Highways England plans a new 14.3 mile road would link
Kent, Thurrock and Essex via the UK’s longest road tunnel under
the River Thames.
The consultation, which closed last night (Thursday 2 April),
asked for feedback on the latest design changes and proposals.
Originally scheduled to run for eight weeks from Wednesday 29
January, Highways England extended the consultation by a week,
reflecting the Government’s guidance on managing the Coronavirus.
The extension was to give people more time to complete their
consultation response, and also to enable organisations taking
part in the consultation to complete their governance processes,
which may have been disrupted recently. Throughout the engagement
process, over 74,000 people visited the project’s dedicated
consultation website.
Alan Seywright, Project Director for the Lower Thames Crossing,
said:
"We'd like to thank everyone who participated in our consultation
and provided feedback, especially given the challenges of recent
weeks. The responses will play a vital part in firming up our
plans for the Lower Thames Crossing. We'll continue to work with
businesses, communities and local authorities to develop the
design and maximise opportunities to unlock economic growth and
improve access to leisure, retail and job opportunities.”
The consultation sought views on the latest changes to the
project, resulting from the 29,000 responses during a previous
consultation and new technical information from surveys and
ground investigations.
Now it has closed, Highways England will analyse the responses.
These will inform the plans for the project’s planning
application, known as a Development Consent Order (DCO)
application, to be submitted later this year.
As part of the DCO application, Highways England will also submit
a Consultation Report, explaining how the issues raised during
the consultations were considered and addressed.
Highways England is also anticipating a further round of
consultation on some design refinements ahead of submitting the
DCO application later this year. This would provide communities
and stakeholders with a further opportunity to consider its
proposals and share their views.
When it is built, the Lower Thames Crossing would almost double
road capacity across the River Thames east of London, connecting
communities, reducing delays and providing more reliable
journeys.
