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Ministers should give the £ 10 billion tunnel tunnel between Kent and Essex called the lower Thames after a long delay, with the private sector expected to finance much of the project.
The Ministry of Transport will approve a development order on Tuesday for the long -awaited project, according to UK government officials.
The 14 -mile road and tunnel will be the first completely new crossing of the Thames River, east of London in 60 years.
The government is seeking positive announcements to make ahead of Rachel Reeves’ spring statement on Wednesday, which is expected to be dark, with growth forecasts to be reduced and deeply reducing department costs.
One official said the project would be a “key strategic path” for drivers, cargo and logistics, improving the connection between South England and Midlands and unlocking regional economic growth.
“This demonstrates this government’s commitment to delivering the vital infrastructure that needs the country,” they said.
The scheme has become a symbol of the British sclerotic planning system, with more than £ 1.2 billion spent on the project despite construction yet.
The money has been spent on planning, consulting, traffic modeling, environmental assessments, legal and advisory fees and land purchases.
The project planning document runs up to 359,070 pages, which is equivalent to almost 300 times from the full works of William Shakespeare.
The price of the tunnel project has already risen from £ 5.3 billion and £ 6.8 billion when it was first arranged in 2017 on an ongoing forecast of about £ 10 billion.
Construction is expected to begin in 2026 or early 2027 before the planned opening by 2032.
The government has yet to decide what method of private funding to use on the project, with a decision expected later this year by the Ministry of Finance.
Proposal to have a “regulated base of funds” (fringe) model – in which private investors will collect toll income from the road to return their investments throughout the life of the projects – is favored by the Ministry of Finance, according to people with knowledge of discussions.
This option will cost the finance ministry £ 200m more in costs in advance than if the government directly pays the scheme directly, according to a recent national highway document.
The model, used on the new London sewer in Tideway, will require nearly £ 2 billion in taxpayers to attract £ 6.3 billion private investment, taking the total project price to at least £ 9.4 billion, the figures show.
National highways say there will probably be a “market of interest in the regulated private entity delivery option”, citing projects that use the same structure, including the SizeWell C Nuclear Power Plant.
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