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A reported £1.2bn has already been sent on the Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel and the Treasury has just approved another £590m to be spent on it by March 2026. And they’ve not even started to dig the hole yet.

Project cost is put at £10bn… and rising, as the search for private investors in the project delays the start of construction.

The Lower Thames Crossing is a planned 14-mile trunk road that will link the A2 in Kent with the A13 and M25 in Essex, through the longest road tunnel in the UK.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said today: “We’re finally getting on with the Lower Thames Crossing — a crucial project to drive economic growth, that has been stuck in planning limbo for far too long.”

But they’re not actually.

While the Lower Thames Crossing is indeed out of planning limbo – Alexander signed the development consent order in March – the project remains stuck in financial limbo. Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves said in January that she wanted the project to be privately financed, at least in part. So far, no deal has been announced on that front.

The Department for Transport said in February that both its own officials and National Highways had begun assessing options for privately financing the project. Now they say that the financing issue is a matter for the Treasury.

It remains to be seen whether this year’s £590m will be spent on any actual construction work or just continuing public relations initiatives and community kickbacks; or possibly the real function of the £590m is to be an enticing headline to encourage private investors to ride to the rescue. Or maybe £590m is simply the budget for the legal fees and consultants working to secure private finance.

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