Boris wants to close Heathrow

[Bob Dalek]

Why not just tarmac over the entire British isles? It'd take an Irish navvy a few years to pace up & down, then across the land, in order for him to submit a quote, but worth the wait.

[OwlHoot]

The surrounding villages to Heathrow are dumps with no redeeming features.

Think Feltham YOI.

Not all of them. Harmondsworth is a nice little area, and has a 12th century (in parts) church, St Marys Harmondsworth, which is visible as you drive into London on the M4. It's the one that looks like a miniature version of the White Tower in the Tower of London.

St Mary's also has an ANZAC cemetery and war memorial, which concreting over would possibly upset Aussies and Kiwis. (But then who cares about them - We're in the EU now, right )

[swamp]

How will you get to this new Thames Estuary airport by car?

Whatever you say about Heathrow it does have excellent road links: M4 west, M4 east into central London, M25, plus M3, A3 and A40/M40 close by, and not too far from M1. Also some A roads to a bunch of local places.

Thames Estuary: bridge to Sheppy, M2 (wow), and really carp eastern bit of M25. Chatham and Gravesend nearby too, which can't be a good thing.

And another thing: who is going to occupy a business park in Heathrow when there is no longer an airport there? Surely part of the point of the M4 corridor is it is near to Heathrow...

[AtW]

How will you get to this new Thames Estuary airport by car?

High speed train.

If the price of 3rd runway at Heathrow is £13 bln and the price of brand new airport is like £6 bln, then it is crazy to even think of 3rd runway. Boris will now get 100% of votes of those who live (if you call that living) near Heathrow.

[Moscow Mule]

How will you get to this new Thames Estuary airport by car?

Whatever you say about Heathrow it does have excellent road links: M4 west, M4 east into central London, M25, plus M3, A3 and A40/M40 close by, and not too far from M1. Also some A roads to a bunch of local places.

Thames Estuary: bridge to Sheppy, M2 (wow), and really carp eastern bit of M25. Chatham and Gravesend nearby too, which can't be a good thing.

Park and ride.

I think it's a splendid idea, even though commuting to the continent would become harder (I live about 25 mins from Heathrow) for me.

You would also be able to link it to CrossRail for an additional billion or 15.

[Cyberman]

I don't think this idea has been thought through. Relying on high speed trains is pretty stupid as there would be regular major disruption by strikes and possibly even terrorists. You would still need excellent road infrastructure but this would be a nightmare because you are forcing millions of people to travel to a remote area of the South East instead of the much more convenient Heathrow, which is accessible from all points of the compass, whereas Sheppey clearly is not.

[Cyberman]

High speed train.

If the price of 3rd runway at Heathrow is £13 bln and the price of brand new airport is like £6 bln, then it is crazy to even think of 3rd runway. Boris will now get 100% of votes of those who live (if you call that living) near Heathrow.

These estimated figures are ridiculous. They obviously ignore extra road and rail infrastructure which would cost multi-billions in itself. This shows cost estimates on a par with that of the Olympics, which double or triple over time!!

[expat]

How will you get to this new Thames Estuary airport by car?

Whatever you say about Heathrow it does have excellent road links: M4 west, M4 east into central London, M25, plus M3, A3 and A40/M40 close by, and not too far from M1.

M25 is a mess, M1 only available via M25. The road links are all too crowded, and worse, the M25 is too unpredictable: if you're going to catch a flight, you need to plan on the longest time it might take, not the average.

And another thing: who is going to occupy a business park in Heathrow when there is no longer an airport there? Surely part of the point of the M4 corridor is it is near to Heathrow...

Rather a good point IMO.

[OwlHoot]

Another idea, apart from its possible hideous appearance, would be to build a new runway *over* the M4 or M25.

It would need to be quite high, and with plenty of side openings and a V-shaped reinforced steel ceiling, to avoid being too vulnerable to truck bombs and crashing oil tankers blowing up beneath it.

But I'd have thought the entire M25 width, for a couple of miles between roughly junction 11 and 13 would be ample for a runway.

You could also cover the Wraysbury reservoir, or one of the others nearby, and site the new terminal over that (and reduce evaporation from the reservoir at the same time).

[BrilloPad]

How will you get to this new Thames Estuary airport by car?

Whatever you say about Heathrow it does have excellent road links: M4 west, M4 east into central London, M25, plus M3, A3 and A40/M40 close by, and not too far from M1. Also some A roads to a bunch of local places.

Thames Estuary: bridge to Sheppy, M2 (wow), and really carp eastern bit of M25. Chatham and Gravesend nearby too, which can't be a good thing.

And another thing: who is going to occupy a business park in Heathrow when there is no longer an airport there? Surely part of the point of the M4 corridor is it is near to Heathrow...

A2 (from M2 to M25) just being upgraded now. M25 part from M2 to M20 almost completed now. Sorted......

(well it would be if not for the M2/M25 junction, M25 from M20 to sevenoaks and that stupid stupid junction with the A21 - but lets not bring all the facts into a good argument.....)