Progress report

Following the conclusion of the Judicial Review of the M20 Lorry Area the scheme that we have developed will not be taken forward at this time.

What next?

We will be reassessing the options available for the Lorry Area. In the meantime, an interim contingency solution will be developed and will be in place by March 2019.

We will provide further updates on this in due course.

Why we need this scheme

Over recent decades, the number of lorries crossing the English Channel has increased seven fold. Nearly 90% of all UK roll-on, roll-off international freight goes through the Strait of Dover and that puts 11,000 lorries per day on Kent’s roads. There are projections that by 2025 the number of these lorries could double. Usually the road network copes well. But unexpected events cause problems, as there is little slack in the system.

Extra parking has recently been provided at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel, but we expect that severe weather, security threats or industrial action will still mean that queues of lorries have to be held on the M20 using a procedure known as Operation Stack. This happened on 32 days in 2015.

Operation Stack can cause significant problems as it shuts the M20. Kent residents struggle to get to work or school, to medical appointments or to carry out everyday tasks. People from further afield get held up or delayed and businesses are affected.

A solution is required to alleviate the problems caused by cross-channel disruption. In almost all cases, this will keep Kent residents moving and get rid of traffic congestion.

Businesses will keep investing in the area and jobs can be created, leading to greater prosperity both in Kent and internationally.

Aims

The aims of this scheme are to:

• solve the effects on Kent of disruption to cross-channel services
• address anti-social lorry parking which occurs around the roads, villages and towns of South East Kent
• keep Kent moving and enable people to go about their lives as normally as possible when there is disruption at the Channel ports

Roadworks and Events for England

The latest incident information for England's motorway and trunk routes provided by Highways England