DRIVERS are bracing for travel carnage throughout June as a major toll road is set to close for repairs.
The route will be subject to heavy restrictions within days that will last well into next month, including multiple shutdowns.
2
Motorists will be swept onto a seven-mile diversion through a village to avoid the closure.
The Dartford Crossing is used by 150,000 vehicles a day on average and connects Kent and Essex.
It also serves as a major access road to the M25, one of the nation’s busiest motorways.
The crossing consists of a series of tunnels under the River Thames as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.
However, National Highways has announced that large sections of the crossing will close for essential maintenance for large parts of next month.
The Westbound tunnel has already been closed overnight across several days in May, with the last of these coming tonight.
The Eastbound tunnel will then begin a regime of “regular week-night closures” as work is carried out on “key electrical components”.
This will see the carriageway shut between 9pm and 5.30am from Mondays to Thursdays between June 3 and June 21.
These hours will be shifted to between 9.30pm and 6am on Fridays during the same period.
And the tunnel will also be subject to regular safety inspections between 10pm and 5am on Sundays, with only vehicles smaller than 4.8m high allowed through at those times.
The West tunnel will remain open, but be subject to the same size restriction throughout the month.
Outside of the regular closures, the QE2 Bridge will grind to a halt overnight from 10pm on June 22 to 5am the next morning.
Restrictions will even extend to the M25, with the northbound stretch between Junction 2 and Junction 1a of the A282 closed on the same schedule as the East tunnel.
Anyone looking to use the affected parts of the crossing will be sent on a “clearly signed” diversion along the A2, B255 and A206, taking in the village of Greenhithe.
This is expected to add roughly 15 minutes per journey.
To keep disruption to a minimum, we carry out our work overnight, typically between the hours of 10pm and 6am.
National Highways
A spokesperson for National Highways said: “The Dartford Crossing, also known as the A282, connects directly at both ends with the M25 London Orbital Motorway, one of the busiest motorways in Europe.
“We’re carrying out an extensive programme of repairs and maintenance work over the next several years to keep journeys safe and reliable for road users.
“To keep disruption to a minimum, we carry out our work overnight, typically between the hours of 10pm and 6am.”