Frustrated motorists and campaigners will face weeks of further uncertainty if the government doesn’t confirm plans for the Lower Thames Crossing this week.

Many were expecting the Department for Transport to make its announcement this week but if it doesn't arrive today or tomorrow it will likely have to wait until after the upcoming Kent County Council (KCC) election.

Purdah rules prevent the government from making announcements that could influence voters during an election period, which starts tomorrow and ends after people have been to the polls on May 4. It is widely thought any news on the crossing released during this period would be a breach of purdah.

More than 47,000 people took part in Highways England’s consultation for a £6 billion crossing east of Gravesend with Dartford MP Gareth Johnson and borough council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite desperate for it to be adopted by the government.

Both signed a letter sent to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling last week urging him not to approve another crossing at the existing site in Dartford.

“We urge you to make the right decision, right for our region, right for motorists, right for air quality, right for local people and right for the economy,” the letter reads.

“If our country is to continue to prosper as we widen our economic horizons – as we know it can – it needs a commitment to the right infrastructure, not just the cheap or easy solution.

“Residents and motorists can see that only Option C provides the necessary resilience to keep our region and economy moving.

“We have, as I hope you know, been making our points robustly but reasonably for many months now.

“We have done so because we know how catastrophic a failure to provide a new crossing away from Dartford would be to health, to the well-being of local people, to the economy, to ambition and to growth.

“It is time for the right decision and your commitment.”

Mr Johnson said another crossing at Dartford would be “catastrophic” for the area, adding the roads could not cope with the situation as it was and that pollution levels were already dangerously high.

The government has been pressed to make a decision countless times since Highways England’s consultation closed last year, with business chiefs claiming the indecision was hurting the country’s economy.

Critics of the proposal to construct a crossing east of Gravesend include KCC’s Gravesham East councillor Bryan Sweetland, who has said building there would not solve Dartford’s traffic woes.

“I think the whole thing needs looking at again.

“I really don’t believe a crossing at Gravesend will solve the problems at Dartford,” he added.

“When money is tight the government needs to make sure every penny is spent on a solution that has a good chance of solving the problem.

“The solution they’re pushing for is 10 or 12 years old and times have changed.

“When this was first put forward there was no mention of Paramount or Ebbsfleet, but the KCC stance hasn’t changed.

“Labour and the Conservatives have been quite united on this in Gravesham, it’s just about the only thing we are united on.

“Whatever the decision, people in Dartford are still facing another 10 years of congestion.”