In message , at 02:02:41 on Sun, 13
Oct 2013, JNugent remarked:
As a matter of interest, why is the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge not
designated as a Motorway?

So that traffic which is prohibited from using motorways can still cross
the river.

Not so.

How about "so that a greater proportion of the traffic, viz: several of
those classes which are prohibited from using motorways, can still cross
the river".

Pedestrians and cyclists cannot use the crossing in either direction
(except as passengers and freight).

And the tunnel operators have special vehicles for the use of cyclists,
so the motorway (or not) status is irrelevant as far as they are
concerned.

Pedestrians are not "traffic".

The Dartford Tunnel was built by Kent and Essex County Councils and was
opened to traffic over ten years before any part of M25 was opened and
about twenty years before the tunnel approach roads were fully
connected to the M25 northbound.

I'm aware of that, having use it since that single bore opened. However,
once the bridge was open it could perhaps have been upgraded to a
motorway.

Unless, of course, the tunnels are fundamentally not to motorway
standards (eg quantity and position of escape exits) in which case
perhaps it's simply not allowed.
--
Roland Perry