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Thursday, May 24 2012

Now let's scrap crossing tolls!

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By Rhona Pinkerton

There are renewed calls today for the toll at the Dartford Crossing to be scrapped.

For most of the day yesterday, traffic was allowed to pass through for free because a massive power cut in the area meant some of the booths could not operate.

The tolls were originally set up to pay for the tunnel and later the QEII bridge but despite those both being paid for, the tolls remain.

The Government claims it is because they provide a vital role in controlling traffic around the M25.

However, many locals say during the time the tolls were not operational on Tuesday, congestion was not a problem and traffic flowed freely.

It is a view shared by the Leader of Dartford Borough Council, Jeremy Kite, who said: “We’ve proved in the last couple of days that the minute you remove the tolls, the congestion goes away. Every honest minister now should be saying, ‘OK, it’s been proven that happens, let's waive the tolls altogether, lets take away that burden on the people of Dartford’”.

Another power source has now been used to power the toll booths and they are operational again.

Wednesday, July 22 2009

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Comments (13)

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Vicky & Paul wrote:

Dartford Toll Charges

We use the crossing regularly and although we don't mind having to pay the toll, we are fed up with the congestion that it causes. It is so frustrating sitting on top of the bridge looking down and seeing the traffic flowing freely the other side of the toll booths. Something needs to be done.

29 Aug 2009 8:13 AM

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Geoff wrote:

Dartford Toll Charges

I use the xing twice sometimes 4 times a week. Now I use all the small change that hangs around the car and various places at home...I know its petty but my £1.50 made up of 20,5,2 and 1p's gives me a little smug feeling,as I imagen the accountants using shovels and scales to add it all up. Just think of the impact if only a 3rd of drivers did that

18 Aug 2009 9:26 PM

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Derek French wrote:

National Disgrace

The huge congestion caused by the toll booths at the Dartford crossing is a national disgrace. Whilst the government (and therefore us) have a huge financial hole to plug, the tolls at Dartford are not the way to do it. Delays can be massive (I sat in 15 mile queue last year going south), waste ridiculous amounts of time and cost, must unecessarily generate a lot of extra carbon, and is a stupid 'drag' on the productive economy of this country.

11 Aug 2009 2:37 PM

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Johnny M wrote:

Quality Of Life

As a daily commuter with little or no choice but to use the Crossing, I have seen the congestion get undeniably worse in the last several months. The unavoidable jams at the Crossing in both directions cost me personally about an hour a day. Consequently the Crossing costs me about 2 waking days of my life a month. Give me back my life, scrap the Toll Booths or make the payment system considerably faster. Better still, scrap this stealth tax on the motorist and reduce the avoidable fumes emitted completely...

03 Aug 2009 2:37 PM

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MikeyV wrote:

Pollution

One Friday I queued for nearly 3 hours to get through the crossing, it was just after the price change, my anger is at the huge amount of additional pollution that this creates. Unfortunately it is just another stealth tax on the motorist, £70m per annum, that the gready hands of those in power will not give up. The health of the residents of Dartford and Thurrock is the main loser.

31 Jul 2009 2:45 PM

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Groomi wrote:

Silver Lining...

Hopefully there will be a silver lining in the Governments clouded judgement in keeping the tolls. Tuesdays events demonstrated quite clearly the truth about congestion and therefore the lies spun by Labour. If this helps convince a few more people not to vote for them when we're finally given the chance to vote them out of office, then all the better.

29 Jul 2009 9:32 AM

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hayley wrote:

human rights

This has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the tolls need to be scrapped. We were promised that they would be as soon as it had paid for its self, which it has who knows how many times.
The Goverment are therefor liable for deception as they have not stuck to the promise that they made and surely this is now against our human rights!!!! If it were the likes of you or I it would be deemed as theft but not if its the goverement...why?
I have a saying . . . tho shalt not steal...the goverment hates competition. Why did the king many years ago lose the right of running the country? the same reason as what the present goverement are doing to us, screwing us over.

23 Jul 2009 5:50 PM

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Marion wrote:

Dartford Crossing Tolls

I use the Dartford Crossing daily to go to and from work. The congestion has always been really bad but since the toll charge was increased by 50% (in a recession!) so the congestion has increased tenfold. If the government believe it is anything other than the tolls that cause 9 mile tailbacks most days, they are more stupid than the public already think they are. After all we can't claim on 'expenses' for the toll charges nor, indeed, time lost in traffic jams. It is certainly about time something was done and the tolls scrapped.

23 Jul 2009 2:28 PM

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Peter wrote:

Dartford Crossing Tolls

They said the same thing about the Golden Gate Bridge and that was paid off about 30 years ago and the tolls have gone from 25cents to $5.00.As an old Man of Kent I sympathise!

23 Jul 2009 1:30 AM

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ian wrote:

Dartfored Crossing Tolls

Of course the Government will not allow the tolls to be scrapped. They are a good source of income for the owners AND the Government who get more fuel duty as a result of the waste of fuel used by vehicles in the queues waiting to cross the Thames. The Skye Road Bridge in Scotland toll was introduced to pay for the bridge and once it was paid for the toll was scrapped so what is the problem here? Government greed that is what! Any other excuse is mere spin and we the public know it but the Government treats us as fools. We will see who are the fools at the next election!

22 Jul 2009 6:29 PM

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Leah wrote:

Dartford Toll

I think its is a disgrace that you have to pay to use the the tunnel/bridge!!
The cost of it a journey to and forth is a joke!! we've put up witht eh congestion the cost and the enviromental impact of co2 generating as a cause of the waiting traffic for long enough, enough is enough!!!!!

22 Jul 2009 4:56 PM

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J Smith wrote:

Lets' Scrap Crossing Tolls

Again it has been proven that if you don't have any toll charges in operation there are little to no queues at the Dartford Crossing, with no visible safety issues of speeding vehicles that is often quoted as another reason for the toll barriers to be kept. I understand that the last time this happened was 9/11 when again it had the same impact. Please make it a priority of the KM to put pressure on with more reporting of this intolerable toll and its impact on users of the M25 in the South-East, and let's scrap the toll!

22 Jul 2009 4:15 PM

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Tj wrote:

doesnt' take a degree in fluid dynamics to work this out

It doesn't take a degree in fluid dynamics to prove this

(I have a physics degree and could prove the maths on this if required to though)

if you take 4 lanes of traffic at 50mph over the bridge and force it to stop for 2 minutes, the wave effect ripples backwards causing the traffic to stop further and further back, and thus we get the jams back to jnc 2/3 and 29/30 twice a day

The cost to motorists of idling in traffic at the dartford, and thus the cost to the environment wasted CO2 emissions from idling traffic would be more than balanced by the loss of income to the government/highways agency by removing the tolls.

22 Jul 2009 1:00 PM

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Now let's scrap crossing tolls!

Dartford Toll Charges

Dartford Toll Charges

National Disgrace

Quality Of Life

Pollution

Silver Lining...

human rights

Dartford Crossing Tolls

Dartford Crossing Tolls

Dartfored Crossing Tolls

Dartford Toll

Lets' Scrap Crossing Tolls

doesnt' take a degree in fluid dynamics to work this out