National Highways intends to close A282 carriageways overnight for about seven months from 7 October, with a new 50mph limit. Estimated end: 7 May 2027.

The overnight closures at the Dartford Crossing are not finishing in October. They are being renewed for about another seven months.

National Highways advertised an intended order on 17 September covering the A282 between Junction 2, the Darenth Interchange, and Junction 30 at Thurrock. It would run for approximately seven months starting on or after Wednesday 7 October 2026. The Public Notice Portal puts the estimated end at 7 May 2027 (Public Notice Portal, reference NH/SE/2026/A282/70).

The notice was published in the Thurrock Gazette, which is how a statutory order covering a road most Dartford drivers use every day reaches the public. It has not appeared on the agency’s own Dartford Crossing web page.

What the order would allow

The order is made under sections 14(1)(a) and 14(7) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. In the notice’s own words, its effect would be, “in phases overnight or for an extended period over the weekend”, to:

  • close both carriageways of the A282 between Junction 2 and Junction 30
  • close all of the slip and link roads leading to and from them
  • authorise contraflows in either direction between the movable barriers, north and south of the crossing
  • impose a 4.8 metre height restriction whenever the west bore of the tunnel is closed
  • impose a 50mph speed limit on both carriageways between those junctions

The stated reason is road safety “whilst contractors undertake bridge and tunnel works, electrical works, surveys and inspections, and all associated works”.

The maximum nightly windows are wider than the closures we have had this year:

  • Sunday to Thursday, 8.30pm to 6am
  • Friday and Saturday, 8pm to 10am, plus “an extended period over the weekend”

Those are ceilings rather than a timetable. What actually closes on any given night is published a few weeks ahead on the agency’s A282 maintenance page, and we track the next fortnight on our Dartford roadworks and travel page.

This is a continuation, not a new scheme

Timeline of A282 Dartford Crossing closure orders: the current order in force from 7 April 2025 with an 18-month maximum, the new order in force 5 October 2026, work starting on or after 7 October 2026, and an estimated end of 7 May 2027
Two orders, back to back. Dates from the two National Highways notices on the Public Notice Portal. Graphic by Dartford Online.

The timing is not a coincidence.

The order the crossing is working under now, reference NH/SE/2025/A282/28, came into force on 7 April 2025 and has a maximum duration of 18 months (Public Notice Portal). That ceiling expires in the first half of October 2026. The new order comes into force on 5 October 2026, and the work under it is expected to start on or after the 7th.

Put end to end, the two orders cover the crossing from April 2025 to May 2027. That is a little over two years of authorised night closures on the same stretch of road.

The wording of the two notices is almost identical. The clauses on carriageway closures, slip roads, contraflows and the 4.8m height limit are the same, and so is the list of works. Two things have changed:

  • the new order adds the 50mph speed limit, which the 2025 order did not contain
  • the expected duration drops from about 18 months to about seven, although the legal maximum is still 18 months

The 2025 notice also said National Highways “has made” its order. The new one says the agency “intends to make” it, so this is a proposal at the point of publication rather than a decision already taken. On past form it will be made.

What is closing right now

The current programme is bridge bearing replacement, and it runs to the end of October.

National Highways said on 18 September that it needs “more extended overnight closures up to end October” to finish renewing bearings on the QEII Bridge. The remaining full closures of the bridge are Saturday 26 September, Saturday 3 October, Saturday 24 October and Saturday 31 October, each from 9pm to 9am, with southbound traffic sent through the east tunnel.

Weeknights changed at the same time, and this is the part regular drivers will notice first. From Monday 21 September the west tunnel closes at 9pm rather than 10pm, Monday to Friday. Friday nights move the most: they had been running from 11pm to 6am, and they now start at 9pm.

What it means for you

If you cross at night, the pattern is now weekly. West tunnel on weeknights from 9pm, bridge on a Saturday, east tunnel on a Sunday. From October the same work carries on under a new order.

If you drive something tall. The 4.8m limit applies whenever the west bore is shut, and that is written into the new order as well as the old one.

The charge still stops at 10pm. Crossings are free between 10pm and 6am (GOV.UK), so most overnight closures fall in the free window. The Friday and Saturday ceiling of 10am does not. Any closure running past 6am on a weekend morning covers up to four charged hours, and the Saturday bridge closures already run to 9am.

If you want to object. The notice gives no consultation period and no objection route, which is normal for a section 14 traffic order. Enquiries go to the National Highways customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000 or info@nationalhighways.co.uk.

Alternatives. When the A282 is blocked, Fastrack’s bus-only sections and the train are usually quicker across the borough than the queue. Times and fares are in our Dartford to London trains guide, and the fortnight’s closures are on our roadworks and travel page.

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