Britain on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for a new £10bn road tunnel under the River Thames in south-east England, in its latest boost to an infrastructure project to help revive the sluggish economy.
Britain’s Labor government has sought to speed up the planning process to deliver new energy and transport projects since it was elected last year, with support for the expansion of London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
The Lower Thames Crossing, which consists of 23 kilometers of tunnels and roads, has received approval for construction from Transport Minister Heidi Alexander, the Planning Inspectorate announced.
The tunnel will connect Kent, south of the river, with Essex on the north side. Connectivity will be improved and more road capacity will be provided for the transport of goods between the port and central and northern England.
Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in January that the government was committed to the transition and added that private financing options for the project were being explored.
The estimated cost of the project has risen to £10 billion, up from £5-7 billion in 2017. Construction is expected to take six years.
The idea of an additional crossing on this stretch of the river east of London first emerged in 1989.
Officially proposed in 2009, the crossing is seen as an example of the difficulties encountered when trying to get infrastructure projects off the ground in Britain.
