The Dartford Double Crossing
How the people were double crossed and grossly inconvenienced by the politicians who went back on their word.
Intro: The Dartford Crossing was originally opened in 1963 as the Dartford Toll Tunnel. The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, that now accompanies the tunnel and serves the southbound crossing, was opened in 1991 and the name was aptly changed to the Dartford Crossing to suit. The bridge itself wasn't perhaps the smartest move, as every time the wind gets up, it has to be closed, meaning all traffic sharing the two tunnels and a resultant service downgrade for the duration. Sticking with tunnels, to avoid such situations, would have been better, especially in such a location, but it wasn't to be!
Promised Toll Free: The public were promised that this crossing would become toll free as soon as it was paid for, however, the politicians, devious lying creatures that they often are, went back on their word, double crossing the people, who are still having to pay even now, more than fifty years on.
Serious Bottleneck: The Dartford Crossing had always been a bottleneck, due to its limited lane capacity in both directions and the amount of traffic having to use it. This has contributed to serious congestion and hold ups for people trying to get across the river, with tailbacks at times stretching four or five miles back around the M25.
Not Very Helpful!
There used to be 27 manned toll booths, 14 lanes north and 13 lanes south, and it was a fairly simple exercise to stop, hand over you money and then proceed. The system worked fairly well. In 2014, the manned toll booths were replaced by an automated charging scheme, which utilized automatic numberplate recognition. The Highway Agency / National Highways promised that this would make things more efficient at the expense of sacrificing of jobs, convenient usability for all, and friendly customer service. However, for some reason, this has not turned out to be the case. Well I never!
System Is Worse! The fact is, this system is worse than the one it replaced, both for people using the crossing and for local residents. Since its implementation, congestion in the area has increased considerably, clogging up the main roundabout and making local through routes around the crossing unusable for local people much of the time. We think this is due perhaps to the reduction of lanes on the tunnel approach from fourteen to four ANPR. There used to be much more space and the old layout used to allow traffic to fan out and then regroup, and it worked fairly well. However, whatever the reason, it seems once again, greed has triumphed over quality of service.
Remember To Pay! As well as putting people out of work, which is obviously a money-making initiative, replacing humans with technology, this scheme now makes using the crossing more difficult and inconvenient for many people. By removing the toll-booths, the onus is put on drivers to remember to pay online, or to call the help line. This has to be done in advance, or within 24 hours of using the crossing to avoid a penalty charge notice dropping on your mat. Not very helpful, especially for elderly people who may be forgetful, and not internet confident.
Gridlocked: There may be some compensation for putting up with all of the aggravation and roadworks if the system was better, but it isn't. It's actually worse. The reorganisation of the crossing, the road layout and the protocol, actually seems to cause even more congestion. This congestion is so severe at times, especially when there is a problem with the crossing, or an accident on the approach, that the whole of Dartford and surrounding area becomes gridlocked.
Aren't We Paying Already? Being as this crossing is a major part of the M25, the busiest motorway in Europe, many people feel that it should be free, as per the original pledge. This would eradicate much of the congestion that arises from the charging schemes and would certainly make it more convenient for everyone. After all, we already pay in the form of road tax. That should be enough! As we DO already pay so much, it would be nice not to have the inconvenience of having to worry about tolls. If people do forget, which is easily done, if you are just passing through, they are now required to pay a fine.
Bad Management: The Dartford Crossing earns over 50 million pounds a year. It is a major part of the M25 but, also due to the toll charge is a major bottleneck and a major cause of congestion wasting inordinate amounts of people's time, and adding to pollution as vehicles sit there queueing and coughing out fumes. People were promised better than this and should not have to put up with this kind of inconvenience on a modern motorway network. Such schemes should be financed by the phenomenal amount of road tax we pay every year, to say nothing of the vast amount of toll money that this crossing has collected over fifty years or so since its original opening in 1963! Just another example of corruption and double crossing at the highest levels of our political management structure!
Everyday traffic congestion, business as usual at the Dartford Crossing
