A government decision on whether to proceed with a new £9 billion road crossing between Kent and Essex is due to be announced today.

This is the deadline for determining whether the 14.3-mile long Lower Thames Crossing will be approved.

Work on the project has been ongoing since 2009, and more than £800 million of taxpayers' money has been spent on planning.

The proposal is aimed at reducing congestion on the Dartford Crossing by introducing a new motorway-style road.

This would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames, set to be the UK's longest road tunnel.

National Highways states the plan will nearly double road capacity across the Thames, east of London, describing it as “our most ambitious scheme in 35 years”.

Construction is planned to start in 2026, with the road anticipated to open in 2032.

Thurrock Council in Essex has consistently voiced opposition to the project, citing negative economic, social, and environmental impacts, but the leader of Kent’s Dartford Borough Council is in favour of the scheme.

Local campaigners, the Thames Crossing Action Group, claim the crossing would be “hugely destructive and harmful”, and a waste of money.

The statutory deadline for a decision on whether to grant a development consent order allowing National Highways to build the road was initially set for June 20, but was deferred due to the general election.

In July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves cancelled the £1.7 billion Stonehenge tunnel scheme and the A27 Arundel bypass project in West Sussex, but made no mention of the Lower Thames Crossing.