The Dartford Crossing has connected the counties of Kent and Essex since the early 1960s – and it’s a crucial part of the M25 road infrastructure. It’s a charged crossing, designed to support up to 135,000 vehicles per day including passenger cars, vans, campervans and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Yet, on its busiest days, it has been known to carry 180,000 vehicles across the River Thames between the towns of Dartford (Kent) and Thurrock (Essex).
It’s situated some 20 miles east of London city centre, beginning life as a single two-way tunnel. Development started in the 1930s, but it was interrupted by the Second World War before recommencing in the 1950s. The first vehicles passed through the crossing on 18th November 1963. Back then, it provided passage to 12,000 vehicles each day for about 13p per vehicle – that’s the equivalent of £3 in today’s money.
What is the Dartford Crossing?
Nowadays, the Dartford Crossing consists of two two-lane tunnels and a bridge. A second tunnel was added in the 1970s to allow two lanes of traffic to cross in each direction, rather than one. That was followed in the 1980s by the Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) Bridge to carry all southbound traffic, leaving the tunnel to handle northbound vehicles. The bridge was built at a cost of £120 million to cope with the anticipated growth of traffic using the M25 London Orbital. That’s the ring road around the capital, much like the Boulevard Périphérique around central Paris that was completed in the 1970s.
What junction is the Dartford Crossing?
On the M25, the Dartford Crossing sits between junctions 1A and 31. Technically speaking, the Dartford Crossing isn’t actually on the M25 – it’s a separate stretch of road numbered A282.
If you wish to avoid taking the crossing travelling southbound, exit the motorway at Junction 30, and take the A13 west into London central or A13 east towards Stanford-le-Hope and Southend-on-Sea. If you’re travelling northbound, you can leave the motorway before crossing at the Littlebrook Interchange, at Junction 1A.
There are no other vehicle crossings along the Thames to the east; to the west the nearest options are the Woolwich ferry or Blackwall Tunnel.
Is the Dartford Crossing a toll road?
The Dartford Crossing has always been a toll road. The overall cost of construction was around £800 million in today’s money. By charging a fee to use the crossing, the counties it serves have been able to maintain the crossing and pay down the construction costs, which were cleared in 2003.
The Dartford Crossing has since generated £668 million. Much of that is spent on maintenance and security, but the matter of how to spend the profits has long caused local political disputes. For instance, local MPs call for investment in alleviating pollution and congestion in the surrounding area.
How much is the Dartford Crossing charge in 2024?
The charge for using the Dartford Crossing, called Dart Charge, is different depending on whether you’re making a one-off payment, or you’re an account holder. Unsurprisingly, account holders are given a bit of a discount.
in 2024, the fees are £2.50 for cars, £3 for ‘two-axle goods vehicles’ including vans and pickups, and £6 for multi-axle goods vehicles.
How do you pay for the Dartford Crossing?
Dart Charge employs automatic number plate recognition technology that allows drivers to pay before or after a crossing. Just head to the Dart Charge website then enter your car and payment details to make a one-off payment or set up an account. You can also pay by phone or at a Payzone terminal.
If you have an account and have registered your vehicle’s number plate to it, automatic payment will be deducted from your account balance.
Payments were previously made at toll booths that regularly caused 10-mile tailbacks. Their removal hasn’t entirely alleviated congestion, though, especially heading northbound as traffic funnels into the speed-restricted tunnels.
Do you pay both ways on Dartford Crossing?
Yes, whether you’re travelling north to south – i.e. Essex to Kent – or vice versa. The toll charge you pay only counts for one leg of the journey. Now there are no toll booths, a model called ‘free flow charging’ uses Automatic Number plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to record the vehicles passing over the bridge, or through the tunnels.
Motorists have until midnight the day after they cross to pay.
What time is Dartford Crossing free?
The Dart Charge doesn’t apply between 10pm and 6am every day of the week. On the approach to the Dartford Crossing, signage states the hours of operation and counts down the distance, to give motorists the choice to take a sliproad to avoid the charge (we’ll come onto this). These signs are indicated with the same red circled ‘C’ as that of London’s Congestion Charge,
What is the fine for not paying the Dart Charge?
If payment isn’t made before midnight the following day, you will receive a £35 fine, which itself is only valid for 14 days. If this is ignored, the Dart Charge penalty doubles to £70. It then climbs to £105 over 28 days.
What happens if I pay Dart Charge one day late?
You have until midnight the day after you used the crossing to pay the Dart Charge. So, if you cross at one minutes past midnight, you have 47 hours, 59 minutes to pay – plenty of time to spend a couple of minutes on the website making the payment. Miss the deadline and you face a fine of £35 payable within 14 days.
What happens if the Dartford Crossing is closed?
To protect against accidents during high winds, there is a protocol in place to close the QE II Bridge. If crosswinds are 50mph or more, or headwinds are 60mph, the speed limit for vehicles travelling over the bridge is restricted to 30mph.
If the crosswinds exceed 55mph or headwinds exceed 65mph, lanes are closed based on wind direction.
If crosswinds are expected to reach or exceed 60mph, or headwinds to reach or exceed 70mph, the QE II Bridge is closed to all vehicles. At this point, traffic is diverted through the tunnels.
The bridge will not re-open until the strong winds have passed.
