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Stack plan to clear 111120...
Page 10
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As queues of trucks block the M20, Operation Stack is set for a
revamp. Guy Sheppard reports, THE EMERGENCY queuing system for trucks waiting to cross the English Channel from Kent is set for a revamp in a bid to reduce disruption to the M20 motorway.
Kent police have agreed with the key agencies responsible for the system, known as Operation Stack, to introduce a contraflow system designed to keep traffic flowing in both directions.
This follows at least 10 occasions this year when the system has been implemented because of berthing problems at Calais, strike action and bad weather in the Channel.
Operation Stack currently works by closing the coastbound M20 between J11-12, creating queuing space for 800 trucks. lithe backlog is high the coastbound section between J8-9 is also closed, creating space for 3,300 trucks.
When these sections are closed, non-freight traffic is diverted on to the A20.
Under the new arrangement, which would cost the Government between Dm and £.4m to implement, non-freight traffic on the coastbound sections would be filtered into a contraflow system on the London-bound carriageway of the motorway. Kent's Assistant Chief Constable David Ainsworth says: "If this is agreed it will lead to a more refined system which is safer, less disruptive and less inconvenient for all concerned."
Don Armour, the Freight Transport Association international services manager, attended last week's meeting and welcomes the plan. But he warns that the only long-term solution will be to build a 25-acre lorry park in Kent: "It would take vision and a charismatic leader to pull that off but somebody has got to grab the bull by the horns."
Armour says that as well as easing hold-ups on the M20, a new truck park would solve problems of overnight parking and congestion in Dover.