"Invest Dartford toll revenue into secure parking" RHA tells DfT
A proportion of the revenue from Dartford Crossing tolls should be spent on providing much-needed secure parking for lorries, the RHA has told the Department for Transport.
The money would be well spent, giving drivers the ability to park when they are required to take a statutory break or simply to take a rest. It would also have environmental benefits to local residents, which suffer the consequences of inadequate provision in the area.
The cash should be used to make the park secure, in an area when vehicles, their loads and their drivers are subject to attacks.
"The RHA is against the tolls still being charged at all but we recognise the government’s reluctance to give up £67m in revenue. Half of that money comes from lorries and we urge the Department of Transport to re-invest part of the money for the good of lorry drivers, the industry and the local community,” says head of infrastructure Chrys Rampley. “No-one doubts the need – now we want the government to act.”
The RHA made its call for spending on lorry parking as part of its response to the formal consultation on a new tolling regime at Dartford Crossing. It also welcomed the implicit recognition that a major new infrastructure investment may be needed to ease congestion, in the form of a third crossing.
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