Return of hated M20 barrier will cost £55m
The impending return of the Operation Brock contraflow system on the M20 will cost a another £55 million, it has been revealed.
This is on top of the £35m spent when a moveable barrier was first installed in March 2019, only to be removed in January of this year, when the Brexit ‘’no deal crash out ‘ didn’t happen, bringing the total to more than £90m.
Highways England has awarded contracts for the work to be carried out on the 15-mile stretch between Junction 8 for Leeds Castle and Junction 9 for Ashford.
A £21.3m contract for supplying the barrier has been given to Lindsay Transportation Solutions, while Balfour Beatty, at a cost of £21.8m, has been tasked with carrying out the works. While the tendered costs total £43.1m, Highways England says the figure for the overall project comes in at £55.1m.
The barrier should be ready by December and can be installed “within hours” thanks to a specialist ‘zipper’ machine that will connect the concrete blocks. In the meantime, the blocks will need to be stored on the hard shoulder.
To get them safely in place, a separate steel barrier to protect workers will be temporarily installed from September to November, reducing the London-bound carriageway to two lanes with a 50mph limit.
Highways bosses say the safety barrier will move along the motorway every two weeks as sections of the work are completed.
During the work, the coastbound carriageway will remain open, but a 60mph limit restriction will be in place. A Highways England spokesman said the new barrier would allow the contraflow to be deployed and removed as required, resulting in less disruption.
They said: “The new moveable barrier will have the benefits of Operation Brock and will keep traffic flowing in both directions on the M20 at times of cross channel disruption, while allowing the M20 motorway to retain three lanes, a hard shoulder and 70mph speed limits in both directions during normal traffic conditions.
“Once the specialist vehicle is in place, the new barrier can be deployed and removed much more quickly compared to the previous solution which took over a month to deploy.
“This will keep disruption to a minimum and work to install the new moveable barrier was due to begin on September 1.”
Harry Fone of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said re was a need to keep an eye on costs.
He said: “Taxpayers will be shocked by the spiralling cost. “Over-taxed motorists deserve a network fit for the 21st century, not one which regularly suffers from speed restrictions and congestion.
“Highways England must get maximum possible value for every penny it spends.”