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The ministers gave the green light for a 10 billion sterling road tunnel between Kent and Essex called the lower crossing of the Thames after years of delay, the private sector is expected to finance a large part of the project.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander approved a development consent for the long -awaited project.
The 14 -thousand road and the first Thames river entirely new in the east of London in 60 years.
The decision was reported on Tuesday by the Financial Times on Tuesday.
The government is looking for positive announcements to make Rachel Reeves’ spring declaration on Wednesday, which should be dark, with growth forecasts to be cut and deep from ministerial spending.
An official said that the project would be a “key strategic path” for drivers, freight and logistics, improving connectivity between southern England and midlands and unlocking regional economic growth.
“This shows the commitment of this government to provide the vital infrastructure that the country needs,” they said.
The program has become a symbol of the British sclerotic planning system, with more than 1.2 billion pounds sterling spent on the project despite the fact that construction has not yet started.
The money was spent on planning, consultations, traffic modeling, environmental assessments, legal and advisory costs and land purchases.
The project planning document takes place at 359,070 pages, which is equivalent to almost 300 times the complete works of William Shakespeare.
The cost of the tunnel project has already passed between 5.3 billion pounds sterling and 6.8 billion pounds sterling when it is agreed for the first time in 2017 to a current forecast of around 10 billion pounds sterling.
The construction is expected to start in 2026 or at the beginning of 2027 before an opening scheduled by 2032.
The government has not yet decided which private funding method to use on the project, with a decision expected later this year by the Treasury.
A proposal to have a model of “regulated asset base” (RAB) – in which private investors would receive toll income on the road to reimburse their investments in the life of projects – is favored by the Treasury, according to people with discussions.
This option would cost the Treasury 200 million pounds more in initial costs than if the government paid the program directly, according to a recent national road document.
The model, which was used on the new London Tideway sewer, would require nearly 2 billion pounds of taxpayers’ funding funds to attract 6.3 billion pounds of private investment, bringing the total cost of the project to at least 9.4 billion pounds Sterling, according to figures.
National Highways says there is probably a “market interest in the regulated delivery option of the private entity”, citing projects that use the same structure, including the Sizewell C. nuclear power plant.
