Real alternative to Brock needed

It’s pretty clear that ‘Operation Brock’ has failed. Long queues of traffic, road closures and complete chaos!

Dover has always had long queues of lorries at the port, where they have been queued on the A20 almost on a daily basis.

Heavy traffic has been clogging up the roads all over the county. Once the stack was implemented, the traffic was significantly reduced in Dover.

However, this did not solve the problem. It simply removed it from one part of the county to another - you guessed it, the M20!

With this amount of traffic expected to continue for weeks and with Easter on our doorsteps, not only are these lorry drivers forced in to a queue for many hours with no amenities, many people’s holiday breaks are also set to be ruined.

What exactly is the function of the lorry holding area off J10a (Ashford) if not for situations like this? When this shocking announcement (without consultation) was made, residents were informed that this development would house up to 3,000 lorries for customs checks as well as a holding area and yet this remains almost empty.

When this area was constructed, it was announced that this would only be commissioned for five years.

What is the plan moving forward?

Roadworks which were started in January to relocate the Brock barrier have now been halted due to unforeseen circumstances.

Firstly, does this mean the M20 will be subjected to even longer restrictions?

When viable, will Highways England flood the area with a larger workforce to compensate for lost time?

These occurrences will continue to thwart our roads for years to come unless a real solution is approved.

It has been seven years since I first approached the government and local authorities about producing a new road to service Kent.

This would be closed off and act as lorry holding area when incidents such as the current situation occurs.

However those in control continue to allow those in Kent to suffer.

The current road networks are no longer fit for purpose and haven’t been for quite some time. It is about time someone woke up and paid attention!

Brian Marchant