Lower Thames Crossing – What the New Tunnel Means for Dartford, Kent and Essex Journeys
A 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames between Gravesend and Tilbury, approved in March 2025, with early works under way since March 2026 and an opening date of 2034. Here is the route, what it will and will not do for the Dartford Crossing, and how it changes airport and cruise transfers between Kent, Essex, Gatwick and Stansted.
The facts, as of September 2026
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Route | 14.3 miles of new road from the A2/M2 at Thong, east of Gravesend, under the Thames to Tilbury, then north to the A13 at Orsett and the M25 at junction 29 |
| Tunnel | 2.6 miles (4.2 km), twin bore, three lanes each way; the longest road tunnel in the UK |
| Approval | Development Consent Order granted 25 March 2025 |
| Construction | Early works began March 2026; main tunnelling to follow |
| Opening | 2034, pushed back from 2032 |
| Cost | About £10.6 billion, £3.1 billion public and £7.5 billion private finance |
| Charging | Expected to be charged like the Dartford Crossing; rates not yet set |
Sources: Lower Thames Crossing, Wikipedia and National Highways. Dates for a project of this size move; this page is reviewed each quarter.
What it does to the Dartford Crossing
The honest answer from the project’s own traffic modelling: the Dartford Crossing gets some relief but stays over capacity, and the total number of vehicles crossing the Thames east of London goes up, because the new road unlocks journeys that people do not make today. The Dartford tunnels and the QE2 bridge carry around 150,000 vehicles a day against a design capacity of 135,000, which is why a lorry breakdown on the bridge still puts an hour on a Kent-to-Stansted run. Until 2034, that is the road we plan around. The Dart Charge is £3.50 per car each way in 2026, payable by midnight the next day; we pay it and include it in the fare.
The journeys it changes
The crossing is built for exactly the traffic a Kent and Essex transfer company carries: Kent and the Medway towns to Stansted; Essex to Gatwick; Southampton and Dover cruise passengers connecting to Stansted or Southend; and anyone from Gravesend, Rochester or Maidstone heading to the A13 corridor, Lakeside or Tilbury port. Today all of it funnels through Dartford. From 2034, a Gravesend to Stansted transfer joins the A2 at Thong, is under the river in a few minutes and picks up the M25 at junction 29 with the Dartford queue never in view. Our working estimate, based on the route length rather than any promise, is 20 to 35 minutes saved on a Medway-to-Stansted run at peak and 10 to 15 off-peak.
| Journey today | Route now | Typical time now | From 2034 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gravesend to Stansted Airport | A2, Dartford Crossing, M25, M11 | 60 to 90 minutes | A2, Lower Thames Crossing, A13/M25, M11; peak queue removed |
| Maidstone to Southend Airport | M20, Dartford Crossing, A13 | 60 to 85 minutes | M20/A2, tunnel, A13 direct |
| Chelmsford to Gatwick Airport | A12, M25, Dartford Crossing, M25, M23 | 80 to 110 minutes | A12, M25 J29, tunnel, A2/M2, M20/M26, M23 option |
| Dover cruise terminal to Stansted | A2/M2, Dartford Crossing, M25, M11 | 100 to 130 minutes | A2, tunnel, A13, M11; Dartford avoided entirely |
| Dartford or Bexley to Heathrow | A2, A282 southbound, M25 anticlockwise, M4 | 70 to 100 minutes | Unchanged: this traffic never crossed the river |
Living with the construction, 2026 to 2034
The works sit on both banks: the A2 and A226 around Thong and Chalk on the Kent side, and the A13, A1089 and Tilbury on the Essex side, with the M25 junction 29 rebuilt late in the programme. Expect lane restrictions on the A2 east of Gravesend and on the A13 around Orsett for most of the build, and overnight closures announced week by week by National Highways. For fixed-fare transfers this changes nothing about the price, which is agreed in advance, and everything about the buffer we build in for airport runs from north Kent and south Essex, which is why we ask for the flight number rather than a pickup time.
Dartford, Gravesend and the crossing today
Rushxo and its sister brand Woodford Chauffeur Cars are based in Dartford, and the Dartford Crossing is the road we know best. If you are booking across the river now, the practical advice is unchanged: allow for the bridge, book by flight number, and let the fare include the Dart Charge so there is nothing to pay by midnight the next day. Fixed fares from Dartford and Gravesend to every London airport, the cruise terminals at Dover, Southampton and Tilbury, and the Essex side are on the intercity transfers page, and the airport hubs for Stansted and Gatwick carry the fares from Kent and Essex postcodes.
