The Dartford Crossing was shut on June 10 after an ongoing police incident on the QEII Bridge stopped southbound traffic and brought the M25/A282 to a standstill. All clockwise traffic was held between junction 31 for Purfleet Interchange and junction 1a for Dartford.
The closure came at around 11.20am, when the incident on the bridge between Essex and Kent was first reported, and the disruption built quickly on one of the busiest routes into Kent. Kent County Council's Highways team warned road users to expect delays on the M25 clockwise heading into Kent, as queues spread back towards junction 29 for Cranham Interchange.
By the time the disruption was established, drivers faced delays of around one hour and heavy congestion had built on the approach to the crossing. National Highways said there were roughly two miles of traffic approaching the bridge, while anti-clockwise traffic heading to the tunnels was also facing 30-minute delays.
The exact nature of the police incident was not known at the time of the report, and that left the crossing in a partial shutdown rather than a routine traffic hold. The QEII Bridge remained closed, and the east Dartford tunnel was shut to set up a diversion for southbound M25/A282 traffic.
What mattered most for drivers was not the cause but the scale of the blockage: one incident on the bridge was enough to disrupt both directions around the Dartford Crossing. Until the police operation is cleared, the queues on the motorway and the diversion through the tunnels are likely to remain the key concern for anyone trying to cross the Thames there.
