The Dartford-Thurrock Crossing (Amendment) Regulations 2014

Statutory Instruments

2014 No. 2949

Highways (england And Wales)

The Dartford-Thurrock Crossing (Amendment) Regulations 2014

Made

10th November 2014

Laid before Parliament

12th November 2014

Coming into force

5th December 2014

The Secretary of State for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 25(1) and (2) and 44 of the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Act 1988(1), makes the following Regulations.

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and come into force on 5th December 2014.

Amendment of Regulations

2.  The Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Regulations 1998(2) are amended as follows.

Amendment of regulation 1

3.  In regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation), in paragraph 2—

(a) after the definition of “designated parking area” insert—

““east tunnel” means the easternmost of the tunnels;”; and

(b) after the definition of “trailer” insert—

““west tunnel” means the westernmost of the tunnels;”.

Amendment of regulation 2

4.  In regulation 2 (abnormal loads) for paragraph (1) and the table substitute—

“(1) A person must not, except with the permission of the crossing operator, take or cause or permit to be taken onto the lengths of road described—

(a) in Part I of the Schedule any vehicle which exceeds any of the dimensions or weights set out in column (1) of the table;

(b) in Part II of the Schedule any vehicle which exceeds any of the dimensions or weights set out in column (2) of the table; and

(c) in Part III of the Schedule any vehicle which exceeds any of the dimensions or weights set out in column (3) of the table.

Table

Dimension or Weight	Column (1)	Column (2)	Column (3)
	West tunnel	East tunnel	Bridge
Overall height	4.80 metres	5.03 metres	No restriction
Overall width	2.75 metres	2.75 metres	3.65 metres
Overall length	18.75 metres	18.75 metres	27.4 metres
Total weight	44,000 kilograms	44,000 kilograms	44,000 kilograms
Axle weight	11,180 kilograms	11,180 kilograms	11,180 kilograms
Wheel weight	5,090 kilograms	5,090 kilograms	5,090 kilograms”.

Amendment of regulation 4

5.  In regulation 4 (abnormal loads) for paragraph (1) and Parts I and II of the table substitute—

“(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the driver of a vehicle which is of a description set out in the first column of the table, or a person on his behalf, must pay to the crossing operator, in addition to any road user charge payable for the use of the crossing by that vehicle, the charge for the use of the tunnels by that vehicle set out in the third column of that table.

Table

	Time of Commencement of Passage	Charge
Overall Width
Greater than 2.75 metres and not more than 6.1 metres	Passage commencing after 06.00 hours and before 22.00 hours	£42
Greater than 2.75 metres and not more than 6.1 metres	Passage commencing on or after 22.00 hours and on or before 06.00 hours	£21
Greater than 6.1 metres	At any time	£190
Overall length
Greater than 18.75 metres and not more than 27.4 metres	Passage commencing after 06.00 hours and before 22.00 hours	£42
Greater than 18.75 metres and not more than 27.4 metres	Passage commencing on or after 22.00 hours and on or before 06.00 hours	£21
Greater than 27.4 metres	At any time	£190
Total weight of vehicle
Greater than 150,000 kilogrammes	At any time	£190”.

Amendment of regulation 5

6.  In regulation 5 (dangerous goods)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “into the tunnels” substitute “onto any length of road specified in Parts I and II of the Schedule”; and

(b) in paragraph (3) in the definition of “Table A” for “1st January 2009” substitute “1st January 2013”(3).

Amendment of regulation 6

7.  In regulation 6 (dangerous goods) for “1st January 2009” substitute “1st January 2013”.

Revocation of regulation 11

8.  Regulation 11 is omitted.

Schedule

9.  For the Schedule substitute—

Regulations 2(1) and 5(1)

“SCHEDULE Lengths of road subject to prohibitions

PART I (West Tunnel and Approaches)

(a)

The slip road leading to the northbound carriageway of the A282 trunk road from the roundabout junction with the A206 at the western end of Junction 1A Littlebrook overbridge in the County of Kent, from a point 20 metres south west of that roundabout to its junction with the northbound carriageway.

(b)

The northbound carriageway of the A282 trunk road that leads to and passes through the west tunnel from a point 120 metres north east of the north eastern face of the Junction 1A Littlebrook overbridge in the County of Kent to a point 330 metres north of the northern portal of the west tunnel in the County of Essex.

PART II (East Tunnel and Approaches)

(a)

Unless paragraph (b) applies, the northbound carriageway of the A282 trunk road that leads to the east tunnel from a point 310 metres south west of the south western face of the Junction 1A Littlebrook overbridge in the County of Kent to a point 330 metres north of the northern portal of the east tunnel in the County of Essex.

(b)

The A282 trunk road that leads to and passes through the east tunnel from a point 245 metres north of the centre line of the A1090 London Road, West Thurrock where it passes beneath the A282 trunk road in the County of Essex to a point 230 metres south west of the southern portal of the east tunnel in the County of Kent, in circumstances where the east tunnel is being used as a southbound carriageway.

PART III (Bridge and Approaches)

(a)

The southbound carriageway of the A282 trunk road that leads to and passes over the bridge from a point 140 metres south of the centre point where it crosses the A1090 London Road, West Thurrock in the County of Essex to a point where it passes below the north eastern face of the Junction 1A Littlebrook overbridge in the County of Kent.”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

John Hayes

Minister of State

Department for Transport

10th November 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1908) (the “1998 Regulations”).

Regulation 3 inserts definitions of “east tunnel” and “west tunnel” into the 1998 Regulations.

Regulation 4 substitutes regulation 2(1) of the 1998 Regulations. It applies the prohibition on vehicles that exceed the dimensions or weights specified in the table to the lengths of road described in the Schedule. The table, as amended, creates a distinction between the overall vehicle height restriction that applies in the west and east tunnels. The height restriction for the west tunnel is rounded down from 4.87 to 4.80 metres to facilitate the introduction of regulatory road signs (which require rounding to the nearest three inches where both metric and imperial measurements are shown.) The height restriction for the east tunnel of 5.03 metres reflects its ability to accommodate taller vehicles than the west tunnel. The permissible total weight limit for a vehicle using the tunnels or the bridge is increased from 38,000 kilograms to 44,000 kilograms. Contravention of this regulation is an offence under section 29(c) of the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing Act 1988 (the “1988 Act”).

Regulation 5 substitutes regulation 4(1) of the 1998 Regulations. The table sets out the charges (in addition to the road user charge) that apply when a vehicle of the specified dimensions uses the tunnels with the permission of the crossing operator. Refusal or failure to pay such charges without reasonable excuse is an offence under section 29(a) of the 1988 Act. Such charges for the use of the bridge are abolished.

Regulation 6(a) amends regulation 5(1) of the 1998 Regulations and applies the prohibition on vehicles carrying certain dangerous goods to the lengths of road described in Parts I and II of the Schedule. Use of those roads by such vehicles without the permission of the crossing operator is an offence under section 25(3) of the 1988 Act.

Regulations 6(b) and 7 amend regulations 5(3) and 6 respectively of the 1998 Regulations and update the reference to Table A of Chapter 3.2 of Part 3 of Annex A to the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road to the edition applicable from 1st January 2013 (a copy of which can be downloaded without charge from http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/adr/adr2013/13contentse.html or obtained in hard copy from the Highways Agency, NDD South East, Federated House, London Road, Dorking RH4 1SZ).

Regulation 8 revokes regulation 11 of the 1998 Regulations.

Regulation 9 substitutes the Schedule and defines the lengths of road made subject to the restrictions in regulations 2(1) and 5(1) of the 1998 Regulations, as amended by these Regulations.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has neglible impact on the costs of business. An Explanatory Memorandum is available alongside the instrument on the UK legislation website, www.legislation.gov.uk.

(1)

1988 c.20. Section 46 of the Act contains definitions of “the tunnels”, “the bridge” and “the crossing operator”.

(2)

S.I. 1998/1908, amended by S.I. 2003/496, S.I. 2004/1441, S.I. 2006/585, S.I. 2008/2171 and S.I. 2010/1531.

(3)

The most recent edition of Annex A to the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road was published on 1st January 2013.