Op Brock remains in place as traffic chaos continues
Motorway measures to enter third week
Closure of the M20 is set to enter its third week - with no confirmation of when Operation Brock is expected to be lifted.
The contraflow system will remain in place until after the Easter Bank Holiday weekend ‘as a precaution’, the Kent Resilience Forum has confirmed.
Leaders say it is to manage traffic to the Port of Dover and to Eurotunnel in Folkestone as freight volumes are expected to rise over the long weekend.
Last week Maidstone Borough Council urged residents to avoid using the A20 or M20 in the lead up to the Easter getaway.
Operation Brock has caused congestion in the town since it was introduced on April 1, with traffic diverted on to the A20 at Hollingbourne.
Chief executive Alison Broom issued a statement on Friday asking people to consider whether they really need to make a trip by road.
She said: “We realise that this has been a very difficult time for our residents and the issues on the M20 have impacted our communities, but we are asking them to not make journeys unless it is absolutely necessary this weekend.
“Please think about if you really need to make that journey as if you don’t you will be avoiding what could be potentially long delays and helping to keep our roads clear for essential traffic including the emergency services.”
One mum who became stuck in the jam on the M20 last Thursday described the scene as “armageddon”.
Rachel Williams was trapped with her 11-year-old daughter for almost four hours.
The pair, who had been travelling back from Bluewater,
usually turn off at the junction on their journey home to Bearstead.
Speaking from the car at the time, she said: “Ordinarily, it would be a 40 minute journey, but it has been about four and a half hours so far.”
Measures taken “simply aren’t working,” she said and described the situation as the “worst it has ever been”.
Thousands of hauliers face lengthy waits towards Dover as they are made to join trucks held
on the M20.
The system was extended from Junction 9 to Junction 11 last Wednesday with the introduction of ‘Brock Zero’.
It saw the head of the queue moved from just before Junction 9, near Ashford, to Junction 11, Hythe.
Brenley Corner at Faversham continues to be used as a checkpoint for lorries.
Delays first started when P&O sacked all 800 workers and suspended its services.