£25million to be spent at crossing (From Thurrock Gazette)

£25million to be spent at crossing

2:00pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 in News

MILLIONS of pounds are set to be spent in a bid to ease congestion at the Dartford Crossing, it has been announced.

The Highways Agency has set aside £25million to make improvements at the junction on the M25, which is a notorious bottleneck.

The project will see a range of civil engineering works carried out, including the demolition of toll booths which will eventually see congestion charge style cameras brought in as an attempt to speed up traffic through the crossing.

Work will also be done to put up better signage and to realign carriageways.

The work schedule also includes improving kerbing, drainage, lighting, fences, gates and traffic management, as well as vehicle height and width sensors, CCTV, ramp metering, and new traffic signals and road barrier systems.

A start date for the work is yet to be finalised and is part of £75million of works being carried out across the M25 as a whole.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said it still hoped to get rid of the barriers by October 2014 and bring in a different way of charging drivers.

The spokesman said: "The Government recognises the importance of the Dartford Crossing as a vital transport link for the national and south east economies and has made clear that improvements at the crossing are an important priority

"As part of these improvements, the Highways Agency is delivering a free-flow charging arrangement at the crossing using newer technology and road layout changes to allow the safe operation of the crossing while removing the need for drivers to stop at a barrier.

"We are on course to deliver these improvements by October 2014."

The agency’s main contractor, Connect Plus, will now hold a supplier’s day on September 10, to try and find companies capable of carrying out the work.

Interested firms need to pre-register for the event by sending their details to supplierday@connectplusm25.co.uk by September 6.