On June 27th we have a meeting of the District Council Development Committee . And then it will be followed by an extraordinary meeting of Full Council.
There are 2 items on the agenda.
The first is the Rochford Area Action Plan (which we will write about later)
The second is about a government consultation on having a new crossing over the Thames. We are printing the full report below. It includes a prepared response for councillors to agree to. (Which almost implies that councillors can’t work these things out for themselves!). However we’d be very interested to hear your views on this. Do you support a new lower Thames Crossing – and what’s the reason for your answer? How do you think us councillors should respond to the consultation?
OPTIONS FOR A NEW LOWER THAMES CROSSING ?
CONSULTATION DOCUMENT
1 SUMMARY
1.1 This report outlines three Options presented by the Department for Transport
for a new Lower Thames Crossing.
1.2 All options are expected to be feasible to deliver, in terms of construction,
value for money and financing. However, a crossing at option C delivers the
highest economic growth benefits of the three locations and on that basis
merits support.
1.3 A suggested response to the consultation questions is attached to this report
as appendix 1.
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2 NEED FOR CHANGE
2.1 There is lack of capacity at the existing crossing, due partly to the lack of
alternative routes on the strategic road network. The crossing experiences
the third highest level of delay across the strategic road network, with delays
in excess of nine minutes experienced by almost half of users travelling in
both directions.
2.2 A study in 2009 concluded that some short and medium term improvements
could be made to impact on the performance of the existing crossing,
including suspension of charges at certain times and free-flow charging.
However, these improvements would only create marginal headroom and it
was concluded that a more strategic decision would be needed to resolve the
capacity problem.
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3 THE OPTIONS
3.1 Three options are put forward in the consultation ? see appendix 2:
Option A: At the site of the existing A282 Dartford Thurrock crossing;
Option B: Connecting the A2 with the A1089; and
Option C: Connecting the M2 with the A13 and the M25 between junctions 29
and 30 (a variant would also link the M2 to the M20).
3.2 These three options have been assessed against the principles set out in the
HM Treasury?s Green Book. The intention is to show whether the schemes:-
? are supported by a robust case for change;
? demonstrate value for money;
? are commercially viable;
? are financially affordable; and
? are achievable.
3.3 The findings of the review of the schemes indicate that the benefits, including
wider economic impacts, of all the options are likely to outweigh the costs.
This means, subject to further work, each option is economically justified.
3.4 For all the options public funding will be needed to initiate scheme
development. It is, though, highlighted that options C and the C variant are
likely to require public funding support, since they may not generate enough
toll revenue to be self funding.
3.5 In terms of the impacts of each option it is concluded as follows:-
Option A ? will perform better than the other options in alleviating congestion,
but will not improve connectivity of the strategic road network. As a result will
stimulate only limited economic growth compared to the other options.
Option B ? not as effective as option A in alleviating congestion, but could add
delay to the A2 and A13 east of Basildon. Will support some new economic
activity in the local area. Greater environmental harm than A.
Option C ? will alleviate congestion to the same extent as option B. Greater
journey time savings than B and more economic benefits as a result of the
agglomeration of business activity. Greatest impacts on environmentally
sensitive areas.
Option C variant ? forecast to bring the largest economic benefits.
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4 DISCUSSION
4.1 The suggested response to the consultation is set out in appendix 1 to this
report. Whilst it is accepted that option C, including the variant, will have the
greatest environmental impact and may require public funding, this route
option provides a more direct route for many journeys and will generate more
economic benefits.
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5 RISK IMPLICATIONS
5.1 In the current economic climate all major infrastructure projects carry an
element of financial risk. However, there is a sound economic case for the
construction of a new Lower Thames crossing in terms of reducing
congestion, improving connectivity and delivering economic growth.
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6 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 All route options will have some environmental impact; options B and C will
have a greater impact than option A. A careful assessment of mitigation
measures will be essential.
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7 RECOMMENDATION
7.1 It is proposed that Council RESOLVES
That a response to the consultation on Options for a New Lower Thames
Crossing be made, as set out in appendix 1 with support for option C,
including the option C variant.
4.4
Appendix 1
Q1. Do you agree that there is a strong case to increase road-based river crossing
capacity in the Lower Thames area?
A: AGREE
Q2. Which of the following location Options for a new crossing do you prefer?
A: OPTION C VARIANT
Q3. Please indicate how important the following factors were in influencing your
preference for the location of a new crossing, in answer to Q2. Please mark
whether they were very important, important or not important.
? Forecast contributions to the national economy.
A: Important.
? Forecast reductions in congestion at the existing Dartford-Thurrock crossing
and forecast improvements to the resilience of the surrounding road network.
A: Important.
? Forecast reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
A: Important.
? Smaller forecast adverse impacts on environmentally sensitive areas and
larger forecast improvements in quality of life relative to other location
Options.
A: Important.
? Smaller forecast adverse impacts on planned development relative to other
location Options.
A: Not important.
? The distribution of forecast impacts on people within a range of different
income groups.
A: Important.
? Lower estimated costs relative to other location Options.
A: Not important.
? Forecast value for money.
A: Important
Do away with ALL charges at the dartford crossing .This would let the trafic flow at the same speed as other parts of the M25. The savings doing this could buy out the Dartford crossing Co.
Do away with ALL charges at the dartford crossing .This would let the trafic flow at the same speed as other parts of the M25. The savings doing this could buy out the Dartford crossing Co. No This is my first time on this Web Page.