Labour ought to think small on infrastructure

A view of the River Thames and surrounding land from Chalk, at the site for the Lower Thames Crossing between Kent and Essex. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

Your report last month on the Lower Thames Crossing and George Monbiot’s article (Overblown infrastructure projects damage lives and imperil democracy. Why is Britain addicted to them?, 24 June) raise the question of the rationale of government investments. More good money is going into HS2, completion receding over the horizon, and nearly another £590m into the Lower Thames Crossing, which is supposed to relieve congestion on the Dartford Crossing. As many earlier studies have shown, more road capacity does not solve but worsens traffic congestion, an observation made in the 1963 Buchanan report.

In fact, over half the traffic on the Dartford Crossing is local between south Essex and north Kent. The latest payment to the Lower Thames Crossing would pay for the KenEx tram project linking Dartford, Northfleet, Gravesend, Grays, Tilbury and Purfleet, offering a six-minute or better service, and cutting journey times. Indeed, the Thames tram tunnel has been designed to allow emergency vehicles to use it and save time reaching local hospitals, especially at peak times.