A282

A282

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Dartford Crossing

From:

Thurrock (TQ575780)

To:

Fleet Downs, near Dartford (TQ557730)

Length:

4.5 miles (7.2 km)

Meets:

M25, A2, A13

Highways Authorities

Highways Agency

Traditional Counties

Essex • Kent

Route outline (key)

A282

Thurrock - Fleet Downs

Junction List

Junc	Southbound	Northbound
30	Start of Road	M25, A13
	Thurrock services
31	No Exit	A1090, A1306
Toll	Dartford Crossing
1a	A206, B2228	A206, B2228
1b	A225, A296	No Exit
2	A2, M25	Start of Road

This article is about the current A282 that comprises of the Dartford Crossing and is part of the London Orbital.
For the original, that ran between Broadbridge and Five Oaks and is now part of the A264, see A282 (Broadbridge - Five Oaks).

Route

We all tend to think of this as the M25. In actual fact, around six miles of the London Orbital is the A282, this being the important link between Kent and Essex, crossing the River Thames. The toll booths are on the south side of the river for both directions, and the road has eight lanes to the south of these.

Northbound, one has the choice of battling with the lorries through the original left tunnel, or trying hard to limit one's speed to 50 mph through the more recent right-hand tunnel. Of course heading south, one has no such decision to make - all four lanes run parallel across the fairly steep Queen Elizabeth II suspension bridge. From here, you will see just how industrialised the whole area is. North of the river, the road reverts to six lanes.

Because it has always been known as the Dartford Tunnel, residents of Thurrock had hoped that the bridge would diplomatically adopt the name of their town. This didn't happen, and they have had to settle with lending their name to a huge shopping centre instead!

History

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, Dartford

The new A282 (also known as Canterbury Way) opened in 1963 when the first Dartford Tunnel opened. In the very early days, there were special routemaster buses that took bikes over the water but that wasn't a success and so today's minibus system was introduced. With the second bore in 1980, the road was fully D2 but as the M25 was near completion, it became a major bottleneck. The Dartford Tunnels was supplemented with the Dartford Bridge which opened on 30 October 1991, five years and a day after the M25 was fully opened.

This is the layout of the A282 as it was on opening in 1963
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1970
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1972
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1978
This is the layout of the A282 when the second bore opened in 1980
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1982
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1983
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1990
This is the layout of the A282 as when the QEII Bridge opened on the 30th October 1991
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1993
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1996
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 1999
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 2004
This is the layout of the A282 as it was in 2006