Road rage

Not my normal patch, but it seems a Labour government has sanctioned a giant rat-run which will end up costing someone a good deal more than £10bn by the time it is complete.  Value for money ?  The benefit-cost ratio quoted in the planning examination is 1.22. For every £1 invested, the British economy gets back £1.22. That is 'low' according to Treasury guidance. 

This is the Lower Thames Crossing, designed to ease congestion on the Dartford Crossing. The planning examination admits its likely damage to biodiversity, the environment and landscape, fudges the carbon impact, says it's wrong to leave out a new service area, and wants more redress for the Kent Downs landscape, but, on balance, says it should be built. The inspectors dismiss the idea that new roads generate more traffic, and claims, laughingly, that alternatives to reduce traffic have been fully examined. 

From the evidence of regular jams at Dover and the Channel Tunnel, this new road, not even a motorway but simply the A122, will direct more traffic at the Channel crossings, and will lead to stacking on the M20 and the M2/A2 with the slightest glitch on ferries or the Chunnel. And watch for trouble between Maidstone and Snodland, as incoming freight heading north switches between the M2 and M20 in response to traffic flows on their Satnavs. 

Set to open in 2032.