Month: October 2025

Ministers have taken direct control of the £10bn Lower Thames Crossing, moving oversight from National Highways to the DfT under transport secretary Heidi Alexander. Planning consent stands and £590m is set aside for early works, with Balfour Beatty holding a £1.2bn roads contract, but full funding isn’t final and up to £2bn in private finance is still sought. Treasury-led centralisation aims to speed delivery; critics warn of HS2-style overruns, environmental harm and only marginal congestion relief.