A stretch of the M20 in Kent will be used as a temporary lorry park should Brexit result in queues forming at Channel ports, under the latest government contingency plans.
A contraflow system, named Operation Brock, would operate between junctions eight and nine southbound to allow traffic to continue in both directions on reduced lanes, while thousands of lorries are held in line before the border.
Disruption across the Channel from strikes and the refugee crisis at Calais in 2015 caused massive tailbacks of lorries in Kent, which were queueing for ferries and Channel tunnel crossings.
An improved solution to the Operation Stack management plan had been sought, with hauliers having warned that customs checks in the event of a hard Brexit could cause long queues at Channel ports.
In a written ministerial statement, which makes no mention of Brexit, the transport minister Jesse Norman said: “The department has now agreed with Highways England that this arrangement should take the form of a contraflow system which would see lorries for the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel held on the coast-bound carriageway between junctions eight and nine of the M20, while other traffic will use a contraflow to continue their journey on the other side of the motorway.”
He said Highways England was starting preparatory works for the scheme, which would be available from early 2019. The government would also launch a consultation to seek views on other potential overnight lorry parks for up to 1,500 vehicles, Norman said.
Labour said the latest “empty announcement” was a further part of the government’s “incompetent and disastrous” handling of the problem, which included a new £250m parking area being rejected by planners and millions being spent renting space at Manston airport.
The shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, said: “The scale of Chris Grayling’s dithering and delaying since Operation Stack in 2015 is breathtaking. A no deal Brexit could grind the south-east of England to a halt, but Grayling is simply asleep at the wheel.”
The Freight Transport Association said the proposedsolution was a good compromise until permanent parks could be provided. Christopher Snelling, the FTA’s head of UK policy, said: “It is vital both for the logistics industry and for Kent as a whole that traffic can continue to flow freely throughout the county, and the proposed solution could provide that for now.”
