Highways England has begun the search for bidders on two road contracts worth a combined £1.9bn to deliver projects on the Lower Thames Crossing
The successful bidders and their supply chain will help Highways England achieve their ambition of making the Lower Thames Crossing the most environmentally sustainable road project ever delivered in the UK.
They will support the delivery of landscaping that will increase the biodiversity value of the area by 15% by planting over 260 hectares of new woodland, converting 400 hectares of arable land into semi-natural habitats, and creating new ponds, waterways, ditches and hedgerows.
The successful bidders will also be responsible for seven new green bridges that connect habits and species either side of the new road.
The Lower Thames Crossing will improve journeys by almost doubling road capacity across the River Thames east of London.
The two successful bidders will build a total of 14.3 miles of new roads that will connect the longest road tunnel in the UK to the strategic road network.
If given the green light, this new route will support over 22,000 jobs during construction, including hundreds of opportunities for apprentices, graduates, and local businesses.
‘Leaving a positive legacy’
Matt Palmer, added: “Our roads connect us – we rely on them, and they are a critical part of our economic recovery and low-carbon future. The Lower Thames Crossing is the most ambitious road project this country has seen since the M25 was completed 35 years ago.
“These contracts show our commitment to this project, which will support 22,000 jobs during its construction and provide a huge economic boost to the UK economy when it opens for traffic.
“Our challenge is to build the new crossing in a way that not only supports the next generation of low carbon vehicles, but minimises our footprint, and allows us to enhance the natural environment and leave a positive legacy for our neighbours and users.”
The two roads contracts are the final of three main works contracts to be procured for the Lower Thames Crossing scheme, with the £2bn tunnels and approaches contract currently out for tender and the £162.5m integration partner contract awarded to Jacobs earlier in the year.
Highways England plans to resubmit its application for a Development Consent Order later this year. An application was originally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in October 2020 but was withdrawn in order to provide more information.
Trying to connect road widening and the furtherance of car dependency with a ‘low-carbon future’ is pure fantasy, and the ‘economic recovery’ is highly questionable, as this study of the M25 Jn 23 to 27 concludes: “the absence of observed increase in traffic speed raises questions about the applicability of a long-established transport model and of travel time savings as the main economic benefit of road investment, as well as about the value of investment to increase the capacity of strategic roads where these are used extensively for local trips.” (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965856421000872)