Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the number of crossings made on the Dartford Crossing during the covid-19 outbreak on air quality in the surrounding areas.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Highways England continuously monitor air quality on the Dartford Crossing and operate two automatic air quality stations either side of the A282. Monitoring station ID51 is located next to the northbound carriageway and monitoring station ID52 is next to the southbound carriageway.
The measured monthly average nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations between January and August (covering the COVID-19 lockdown period) for 2019 and 2020 are provided in Table 1.
Table 1 Air Quality Monitoring Data
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | Average March to July | |
Site 51 NB | 2019 | 38.3 | 39.6 | 26.4 | 42.5 | 30.8 | 32.8 | 28.9 | 30.1 | 32.3 |
2020 | 21 | 13.6 | 16.7 | 20.2 | 25 | 24 | 18.6 | 30.7 | 20.9 | |
Site 52 SB | 2019 | 71.6 | 67.9 | 61.7 | 46.5 | 55.3 | 53.2 | 55.1 | 50.2 | 54.4 |
2020 | 58.1 | 51.8 | 43 | 32.7 | 35.3 | 38.4 | 42.4 | 42.7 | 38.4 | |
As shown in Table 1 the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions has led to a reduction in measured NO2 concentrations between March and July 2020 (bold figures), which corresponds to a reduction in traffic flows between the same time period.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of air pollution on the southern approach to the Dartford Crossing.
Answered by David Rutley
We model air pollution along the A282 which includes the southern approach to the Dartford Crossing. Our 2017 UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations was informed by our modelling which uses the latest available evidence, which indicates that all modelled sections of the A282 were compliant by 2017.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the volume of air pollution caused by traffic congestion on the Dartford Crossing.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We have modelled air pollution concentrations for the Dartford Crossing that takes into account traffic data. Our latest modelling for the 2017 national plan has shown that there are no exceedances of pollutants on the Dartford Crossing.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on including the Dartford Crossing in his Department’s Air Quality Plan as a result of the reclassification of that crossing as an urban road in 2017.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Since the Dartford Crossing was reclassified as an urban road by the Department for Transport, this section of road has been included in Defra’s air quality modelling.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Dartford Crossing (A282) will be included in his Department's Air Quality Plan.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Yes, it has been.