General Chat

There is a plan to widen the M25 in Essex as it approaches the Dartford Crossing.

That is a waste of time unless the southbound tolls on the Dartford Crossing are removed. The effect will be to simply change a three lane parking lot into a four lane parking lot.

The toll booths have been a source of delay for decades and the recent Department of Transport report "Dartford River Crossing Study into Capacity Requirement" reveals that the capacity of the bridge is double that of the toll booths.

Delays of 30 minutes or more to get through the toll booths are a daily occurrence. The tolls are a severe restraint of the flow of traffic and freedom of movement to the east of London with influence over a wide area due to traffic displacement onto less efficient routes.

The completion of improvements to the junctions south of the bridge render the previous traffic management justification for the toll plaza invalid. Demolition of the booths should take place without delay.

There is no reason to retain the southbound toll (tolls both ways should legally have been removed when the bridge was paid for in 2003).

Virtually everybody in the Country is affected either by travelling across the Thames or else by delays and extra cost of goods coming in through Dover.

Please write to your MP and demand action rather than decades of delay.
Scotland has abolished ALL tolls, England deserves the same treatment.

AND they put the price up fairly recently didn't they?

They must be raking in the cash ...

Jill

The tolls over the Severn bridge are a great drain on workers pockets when they cross it daily. I think it is about £7 a time.

We live in RIP-OFF England. My wife and I have just returned from Virginia, USA. The Bridge/tunnel complex which connects the Delmarva peninsula with Norfolk is 23 miles long. It saves almost 200 miles detour.

Guess how much the toll is? $12. Equivalent to £7.41.
About the same as we have to pay for using the 3.25 mile Severn Crossing.

Parking fees? What parking fees? in 14 days motoring we never had to pay a cent.

Bit different than here.