00:0050 million vehicles a year up to nearly 200,000 a day and no solution in sight.
00:07This is the reality facing the Dartford crossing and the people that live beside it.
00:13If the traffic's bad at the tunnel the estate just becomes a car park,
00:17you can't even get off your drive, it can take an hour to get anywhere,
00:21an hour to get home from work.
00:23Normally if there's a problem with a bridge it affects everybody.
00:27If the bridge is congested, whatever it is, whether it's protesters or whatever happens,
00:33accidents, if anything goes wrong with the bridge the whole of Dartford falls to pieces.
00:37You know a few years ago I'd probably do four or five jobs a day,
00:41spend probably four or five hours working and two or three hours travelling.
00:45Now I'm doing one or two jobs a day and spending
00:48five hours a day travelling, maybe an hour and a half working, two hours at most.
00:54With gridlock, congestion and air pollution rampant,
00:57there are plans being put forward to build a new crossing under the Thames near Gravesend
01:03to ease overcapacity.
01:05But after a series of delays the Secretary of State for Transport has pushed back the
01:11deadline to approve or reject the plans until next year.
01:16Well it's inexplicable, I mean it's beyond parody really.
01:19I mean this is an issue that's been on the table for a very long time,
01:22it's been on ministers desk for a very long time,
01:24so quite unearthly there needs to be this delay now, it's simply beyond me.
01:28So what's next?
01:29Well in a written statement to Parliament the Secretary of State for Transport revealed
01:35the new deadline for the decision will be at the end of May next year,
01:40saying it will give the government more time to consider the application,
01:45including any changes made to spending.
01:49It also means for the next seven months the disappointed Labour MP for Dartford
01:54will have a lot of letters and lobbying to do.
01:57If it means that we can get shovels in the ground shortly after May
02:01then it will have been worth the wait,
02:02but it's clearly disappointing that approval hasn't been given as of now.
02:07The project has been in the works for 15 years,
02:11with so much at stake another seven months may be a bridge too far.
02:17Oliver Leeders, The Sats for KMTV in Dartford.
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