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According to government officials, the minister will allocate more than £1 billion in public funds to the Lowerthames intersection as part of next week’s spending review.
The National Highway, the government agency behind the project, previously estimated that £1.9 billion would be needed to secure £6.3 billion in private capital, using a model supported by the Treasury that allows investors to regain money through driver tolls.
People said Prime Minister Rachel Reeves will allocate taxpayer support for the project as part of the spending review.
Authorities expect the intersections to be funded and operated by private investors under the “regulated asset-based” or RAB model.
This model is used in other large infrastructure projects, such as the Thames Tideway sewage tunnel. National Highways previously said the approach would cost around £200 million more than the state had funded the entire project.
Construction of the 14-mile road and tunnel is expected to begin in the next 12 months after an appeal was not received before the deadline to legally challenge the project’s planning agreement.
The project is a test of the government’s ambition to lift the work of key infrastructure.
National Highways spent more than £1.2 billion on the intersection, even before construction work began, but the planning document is now over 300,000 pages.
Funding at the Lowerthames intersection will be part of a broader announcement by Reeves, which is up to £113 billion in capital and infrastructure projects.
Reeves changed government fiscal rules in its October budget to increase the amount that it could borrow to fund capital investments.
At the same time, she plans to announce a sharp cut in government spending across several unprotected sectors as she tries to keep costs down and balance her budget.
The Ministry of Finance declined to comment. National Highway did not immediately comment.
Legal costs, consultations, land purchases, community forests and more than £1.2 billion have already been spent on the project since it was first agreed in 2017.
In March, the government granted permission to plan the intersection. This is what Reeves calls “the infrastructure our country desperately needs.” No legal assignments for the permit were submitted prior to the May 6 deadline.
The lack of objections has surprised experts who are used to the UK’s infrastructure projects getting stuck in court cases.
Mustafa Latif-Aramesh, a partner at law firm TLT, said the lack of court claims on the controversial road project suggested that the government proposed planning reforms “had the desired effect.”
“The strong support from the Ministry of Transport and the strong government’s signal to support such projects that support growth will discourage the challenges,” he added.
The judicial review allows the scheme to add between £66 million and £121 million, and construction can be delayed by one year or 18 months.
Government infrastructure and planning bills are currently passing through Congress, making it difficult for third parties to challenge development projects through the current judicial review process.
However, there are concerns that developers will be able to weaken environmental protection as they are allowed to pay for natural restoration collection schemes in an attempt to mitigate environmental harm elsewhere.
