Representation by Brian Smith
- Date submitted
- 3 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the proposed LTC based on the following. As a resident living within 500 metres of the proposed road and within a mile of the a13/a1089 junction I have severe concerns about the impact of noise and air pollution during the construction which is likely be for over 5 years. As a motorist, I have significant concerns on the disruption on my local roads with traffic light controls, diversions and closures during a 5 yr + period. As a cyclist, I believe that there will be a net loss of quiet lanes which I frequently use currently such as Hornsby Lane and station road, west tilbury. Furthermore no provision has been made for cyclists to use the tunnel. Crazy! As a current frequent user of the dartford crossing, I am not at all convinced that the ltc will relieve traffic at the existing crossing with admission that only 20% of traffic will use the ltc. And it will be nearly 10 years before this is realised. Multiple roads leading to the dartFord crossing bottleneck is the issue needing resolved by building a straight through tunnel for through traffic. Finally, As a tax payer I am aghast at the budget required for a project that will deliver so little benefit when completed and hugely disruptive to so many during construction. This is not a vfm project and the country simply cannot afford this National highways vanity project. I object to the Lower Thames Crossing based on the following; As a resident living within 0.5 mile of the proposed road I have deep concerns on the impact of the 6 year construction period which will create new and significant carbon emissions from heavy vehicle movements. The noise and air quality of my area will deteriorate for a long period of time. I suffer from asthma and this will negatively impact mine and many other's medical condition. As a cyclist, I am not at all convinced at the suggestion of a net increase of green routes which is included in some of the "promotional" material. Cycling is my only form of exercise and I currently enjoy quiet roads and routes to the south east (station road) and north (Hornsby lane) of my location (Chadwell St Mary) which will be massively negatively impacted and in some cases permanently closed. Despite attending and asking reps at NH events, no-one has been able to advise the length of road closures during the construction phase. As a Thurrock council tax payer, I have real concerns at the Council's ability to prepare and present a full response to the LTC planning process. My concerns are due to the financial position of the Council severely limiting professional officers ability to respond on behalf of residents and the Council (Thurrock is opposed to the LTC) as only statutory services will be delivered. As a commuter using the Dartford crossing 3 x times weekly I am more aware of the real world of the current issues than many data analysts sitting at desks and perhaps only making occasional visits to the crossing. The pressure, particularly on the northbound crossing will NOT BE SOLVED with the LTC. The issues are purely down to a confluence of traffic from the local areas joining the through traffic at the entrance to the tunnel and at Dartford. This is particularly acute with the high concentration of logistics parks on all 4 corners of the crossing meaning a high volume of traffic is HGV - big and slow. Removing a small proportion of traffic which uses the A2 will have negligible effect on the overall volume and certainly does not provide any justification /VFM in my opinion. I believe the best solution is the previously rejected A14, long tunnel crossing which will deal with c 50% of current crossing traffic leaving the existing crossing to deal with local traffic, including the logistics parks. Alternatively, a short crossing from the A206 (in Bexley) to the A13 across Rainham Marshes will be significantly cheaper, easier to achieve planning permission, less impactful for residents, less carbon producing and crucially would provide a really usable alternative for a large volume of logistics traffic, releasing pressure on the tunnel. I suspect it could be delivered in less than half the proposed 6 year time of the LTC.