The Anonymous Widower

Jams at the Dartford Crossing

To get to and from Holland, I used the Dartford Crossing twice.

It is not a credit to Britain’s roads.  About ten years ago, I used to use it regularly on a Friday night to come back from a client and usually I travelled home from a Cuckfield, a few miles south of Gatwick to my home a few miles from the north of the M11 in two hours.  I also used to phone my wife as I left the tunnel and knew that I’d be home in virtually exactly an hour.

Now it is not as easy to do such times.

On Friday, I crossed the bridge in a slow queue of traffic.  It wasn’t too bad and I was perhaps delayed by about ten minutes.  But now, that the charge to use the crossing has gone up from £1 to £1.50, once I got to the booths, the automatic ones were virtually unused with a queue of perhaps two or three vehicles at most.  Congestion also seemed to be caused by cars realising at the last minute, that they didn’t have the fifty pence coin and then crossing over.

It was the same on Monday, when I came through going north.

So in other words, a lot of the congestion is caused at the tunnel by the charging structure.

I suppose all that we can do is make sure that we have the correct money.

But then what the crossing really needs is a lot more tool booths!

October 14, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Dartford Crossing, Roads