Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Traffic hell ‘to return throughout year’
‘Operation Brock is exceptionally disruptive, both locally and nationally’
Drivers have been plunged into fresh travel hell this week after a brief reprieve since the Easter break.
Restrictions were reintroduced at Brenley Corner on Tuesday afternoon, leaving motorists in long queues approaching the roundabout from all directions.
Traffic was crawling on the London-bound A2 from Canterbury, the A299 Thanet Way and Canterbury Road in Faversham, with queues on the coast-bound M2 snaking further back than junction 6.
It comes after the measures to funnel traffic through one lane due to the Operation Brock system were lifted over the bank holiday weekend.
Motorists using Brenley Corner - one of Kent’s busiest junctions - have been enjoying straightforward journeys since then, only for the nightmare to resume this week.
The lane closures have been put in place to allow police to turn back Dover-bound lorries trying to bypass the Operation Brock queuing system on the M20.
The measures aim to keep the motorway moving when ser
vices are disrupted across the Channel.
Travel bosses previously said the restrictions were due to be eased at the end of April - but this week, it emerged they could become a regular headache for drivers.
County highway chiefs say there could be a need to trigger Operation Brock as many as seven more times this year.
The warning was issued during
a debrief to county councillors on why there had been such a prolonged period of disruption.
Toby Howe, Kent County Council’s (KCC) senior highway manager, said there would be a review of the scheme but that any changes would be unlikely to be introduced in the short term.
He said: “Operation Brock does remain exceptionally disruptive,
both locally and nationally. It’s limited in its capacity. And of course it’s resource-heavy and has a huge impact on the road network around.
“But it’s likely to continue for the next however long so the next steps in the short term is for the Kent Resilience Forum to carry out a review because everything has changed since we left the EU.
“In the medium term, we
need to be planning for the year ahead. There are seven possible key events coming up such as getaways and school half-terms.”
He said there were questions around the ability to redirect lorries trying to get to Dover without getting trapped on the M20.
It emerged that only Kent Police had the legal authority to redirect traffic and that it had called on several other forces to help out during the prolonged logjam.
Mr Howe added: “Kent Police, who are the main enforcers of all of this, really struggled.
“Their priority is to stop crime, rather than control traffic. So they had to bring in resources from numerous other places, which meant they weren’t carrying out their regular function.”
In a statement, the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) confirmed there was close monitoring of key dates.
“KRF partners routinely closely monitor Eu-bound traffic levels around school breaks, bank holidays and any changes to border requirements as all such milestones have the potential to impact Kent’s cross-channel routes.”
Specific dates mentioned were this May Day bank holiday weekend, the Whitsun/platinum Jubilee week, the summer getaway from July onwards, October half term, Christmas and New Year.