The start of an official review into plans for the UK’s longest road tunnel could begin in a matter of weeks.

Preliminary hearings into the Lower Thames Crossing, connecting Kent and Essex via a 14 mile road, are set to conclude and its official examination commence on June 20.

That is unless a request for further delay by an opposing council is approved by the Planning Inspectorate.

The controversial project, which aims to reduce congestion at the Dartford Crossing, has been in the works for years but the government announced in March delays meant construction would be pushed back two years to iron out planning issues and review inflationary pressures.

National Highways has confirmed that the earliest construction could start near Chalk, Gravesend, is 2026 if the project gets a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Planning Inspectorate, which has been appointed by the government to independently examine the application.

This week, principal transport planner at Dartford council, Lukman Agboola updated members of the council’s joint transportation board on the progress of the scheme at a meeting held on June 6

He told members: “The good news is that things are now in motion, and the examining authority has been appointed.”

Mr Agboola explained how the timetable for the first “open floor hearing” is set to start on June 20 and last until December this year but warned if the start date was delayed works could be pushed back further still to 2027.

“Thurrock [council] are asking for a delay in the start of the hearing, and they are supported by some other authorities as well, although most people would like the hearing to carry on,” the officer explained.

“Apart from the usual suspects – which are Thurrock and Gravesham – most people actually want this project.”

Dartford council’s leader Jeremy Kite (Con), who is in favour of the scheme, has slated recent delays as “dreadful for local people”.

“I’ve been living and breathing this for a while, and I think actually one of the most dispiriting and disappointing things is the way that there has been this thread of delay running right through it from our own partners as well as the government,” Cllr Kite told the same meeting.

“We’ve just got to get on with this and I hope the government will see through these objections.

“There’s nothing that Thurrock have said in the last 24 hours that they couldn’t have said a year ago or two years ago, there’s nothing that Gravesham have said today I’m sure that they couldn’t have said a year or two years ago.

“As cars get cleaner and greener and quieter and smarter they’re not going to change the volumes of people and their desire to travel, so every bit of road space is going to be needed.

According to National Highways, the Lower Thames Crossing would be the longest road tunnel in the country, at 2.6 miles, stretching between Kent and Essex.

The scheme would also involve the building of 14.3 miles of new roads connecting the M2/A2, A13 and M25, as well as about 50 new bridges and viaducts.

Addressing the fears of other local authorities, Cllr Kite added: “It’s not like we’re asking Gravesham to accept what Dartford has, I’m with them, I want that to be the best tunnel in the world – clean and greener than anything that’s gone before.

“But we’ve got to do something and this delay is just dreadful for local people, it’s destroying business potential to grow, it’s hitting work-life balance, it’s the big ticket item for this town, everything is in line for us but this traffic has got to be dealt with, it’s an appalling situation.”

National Highways claim on their website that the Lower Thames Crossing would reduce traffic on the Dartford Crossing by around 20%.

In a recent video to promote the infrastructure project, residents and users of the Dartford Crossing call the traffic a “nightmare” while revealing horror stories of delays at the bridge, ranging from two to eight hours.

Due to the congestion, one man even claims: “I dropped my mum to Gatwick at 8 o'clock in the morning, she’d flown all the way to Bermuda and seen my sister in Bermuda before I got home”.

Gravesham Borough Council (GBC) has consistently opposed the Lower Thames Crossing, amid concerns over the impact on homes, businesses, and the environment, telling the Planning Inspectorate in its submission it would be for “little local benefit”.

The local authority says a solution to the routine congestion at the Dartford Crossing and better access across the Thames is needed.

But despite its “fundamental objection to the project”, the council adds that it has worked constructively with National Highways to develop and improve the project, if it is built, to “avoid, mitigate and compensate for the impacts as appropriate”.

In their own letter to the Inspectorate, Thurrock Council claim continuing with the current timetable would place the council at an “unfair disadvantage”, and have requested a further delay to the start of the hearing.

The Essex authority says the project will affect “approximately 10% of the Borough’s total land area and Thurrock’s community would be affected by approximately 70% of the scheme impacts”.

This is a project that is supposed to solve the problems at the Dartford Crossing, and would cost £10bn+ if it goes ahead

Thames Crossing Action Group (TCAG), an organisation opposed to the building of the LTC, has also backed a delay to the start of proceedings.

A TCAG spokesperson said: “This is a project that is supposed to solve the problems at the Dartford Crossing, and would cost £10bn+ if it goes ahead.

“Evidence shows the proposed Lower Thames Crossing would be hugely destructive and harmful, and wouldn’t solve the problems at the current crossing, it simply isn’t fit for purpose.

“We like others are requesting a delay in the start of the examination as it is important that everyone has fair and adequate opportunity to make representations during the LTC DCO Examination.”

After being accepted for examination in November last year the project is currently in the pre-examination stage.

The preliminary hearing is the last part of this stage before the main six month examination begins after which the Secretary of State will be tasked with making a final decision.