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A282

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A282
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (95)
Dartford Crossing
From:  Thurrock (TQ574800)
To:  Fleet Downs, near Dartford (TQ556721)
Distance:  5.2 miles (8.4 km)
Meets:  M25, A13, A1306, A206, A225, A296, A2, M25
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

National Highways

Traditional Counties

Essex • Kent

Route outline (key)
A282 Thurrock - Fleet Downs
Junction List
Junc Southbound Northbound
30 Start of Road M25, A13
Services symbol.gif Thurrock services
31 No Exit A1090, A1306
Tunnel (northbound only) Dartford Tunnel
Bridge (southbound only)
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge
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. Actually, around five miles of the London Orbital is the A282, this being the important link between Kent and Essex, crossing the River Thames. The toll booths were 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 The Queen Elizabeth II 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

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, Dartford

The new A282 (as opposed to the old one in Sussex), 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 bicycles over the water but that wasn't a success and so today's minibus system was introduced. With the opening of 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 were supplemented with the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge which opened on 30 October 1991, five years and a day after the M25 was fully opened. The widening to four lanes for about 3 miles from Darenth Interchange (M25 J2) northwards to where the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge reached the northern boundary of Kent was also opened on 30 October 1991 per the Land Compensation Act notice.



Videos

A282 Dartford Bridge

A vid crossing the Dartford Bridge on the A282.

Watch video > >

Links

National Highways



A282
Junctions
Services
Crossings
Roads
Places
Miscellaneous
Related Pictures
View gallery (95)
Northbound Tollbooths, Dartford Crossing - Geograph - 1408391.jpgA282 Dartford Tunnel - Essex Boys - Coppermine - 20345.bmpA282 Dartford Tunnel - Essex Boys - Coppermine - 20344.bmpA282 Strip Map 1963.pngM25-A282 Junction 31 - sign on Roundabout heading clockwise - Coppermine - 4489.JPG
Other nearby roads
Dartford Crossing
A2 • A13 • A206 • A225 • A296 • A1090 (Purfleet) • A1306 • B2228 • E15 • M13 • M16 • M25 • Ringway 3
Dartford
A200-A299
A200 • A201 • A202 • A203 • A204 • A205 • A206 • A207 • A208 • A209 • A210 • A211 • A212 • A213 • A214 • A215 • A216 • A217 • A218 • A219
A220 • A221 • A222 • A223 • A224 • A225 • A226 • A227 • A228 • A229 • A230 • A231 • A232 • A233 • A234 • A235 • A236 • A237 • A238 • A239
A240 • A241 • A242 • A243 • A244 • A245 • A246 • A247 • A248 • A249 • A250 • A251 • A252 • A253 • A254 • A255 • A256 • A257 • A258 • A259
A260 • A261 • A262 • A263 • A264 • A265 • A266 • A267 • A268 • A269 • A270 • A271 • A272 • A273 • A274 • A275 • A276 • A277 • A278 • A279
A280 • A281 • A282 • A283 • A284 • A285 • A286 • A287 • A288 • A289 • A290 • A291 • A292 • A293 • A294 • A295 • A296 • A297 • A298 • A299
Defunct Itineraries: A239 • A268 • A270 • A273 • A274 • A277 • A278 • A280 • A282 • A285 • A292(W) • A292(E) • A295


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