Dartford Crossing
Published by James E on Sunday, May 11, 2008.
Please visit this site and sign the petition. This government are raking in £50,000,000 every year (that s nearly one million pounds every week) while we sit in miles and miles of traffic caused by the tolls. And if we don t do something that will increase to £75 million next year. As you can see from the information below they have been charging us for the last 5 years despite the legal authority to do so expiring in April 2003. They want to raise the amount they charge by 50%.
Despite calls to scrap the Dartford Crossing Toll and allow vehicles to move freely across the river, the Government now propose to increase the standard charge from £1.00 to £1.50 for cars later this year.
The charge was introduced in 1963 and was designed to pay for the construction costs of the tunnels and latterly the bridge. These costs were finally paid off in 2002 and the legal authority to charge a toll expired in April 2003. However, the Government decided to continue the toll under the guise of a congestion charge. This petition calls for the toll to be scrapped, as soon as is practicable, on the following grounds:
a)The congestion, which can stretch for many miles on either side of the crossing, is largely due to the effect of the tollbooths themselves
b)The exhaust fumes generated by thousands of cars waiting in line causes unnecessary environmental damage
c)The delays add unnecessary expense to business and transport costs
Despite calls to scrap the Dartford Crossing Toll and allow vehicles to move freely across the river, the Government now propose to increase the standard charge from £1.00 to £1.50 for cars later this year.
The charge was introduced in 1963 and was designed to pay for the construction costs of the tunnels and latterly the bridge. These costs were finally paid off in 2002 and the legal authority to charge a toll expired in April 2003. However, the Government decided to continue the toll under the guise of a congestion charge. This petition calls for the toll to be scrapped, as soon as is practicable, on the following grounds:
a)The congestion, which can stretch for many miles on either side of the crossing, is largely due to the effect of the tollbooths themselves
b)The exhaust fumes generated by thousands of cars waiting in line causes unnecessary environmental damage
c)The delays add unnecessary expense to business and transport costs
