Dover, Kent, UK: Hauliers are still experiencing delays crossing the Channel due to a lack of ferries, roadworks, problems with the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) and increased traffic because of Easter getaways.
Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the Road Haulage Association, Tweeted on Thursday, 7 April: “Just heard from HMRC that the GVMS system will remain down until Monday. This means that deterioration in traffic in Kent is unlikely to improve today. Expect long delays to cross to France.”
Aerial photographs showed huge lines of trucks on the motorway – with one driver claiming to Kent Live that he was stuck in traffic jams for more than 30 hours
P&O Ferries said yesterday that it is preparing to get its Pride of Kent and Spirit of Britain ferries back in action on the Dover-Calais route “by next week”.
They will need to pass inspections by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) before services can resume. Two P&O Ferries boats have been detained so far after failing to pass inspections by the MCA – including the Pride of Kent.
Meanwhile, Operation Brock is in place to try to manage the traffic flows. National Highways South East says: “The M20 in Kent is closed coastbound between J8 (Maidstone) and J11 (Westenhanger) to manage HGVs and other freight heading for the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel as part of Operation Brock.
Due to continued disruption at the Port of Dover caused by a reduced number of ferries, poor weather and high volumes of traffic, the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) has agreed to implement additional traffic management measures alongside Operation Brock. These include:
• Moving the front of the Operation Brock queue to just before junction 11 on the M20. This will allow port and Eurotunnel-bound HGVS to remain on the M20
• All other coastbound traffic will be diverted off the M20
More advice is available at https://nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/travel-alerts/
UPDATE: Dover Council will declare ‘major incident’ if travel disruption persists
Dover District Council leader Trevor Bartlett said the town would “not tolerate another weekend of gridlock”.
He has threatened to declare “a major incident” if traffic disruption around Dover continues into this weekend. Bartlett said: “We will be monitoring the situation closely throughout the weekend and I will not hesitate to authorise DDC officers to declare a major incident if we see signs of the sort of congestion witnessed last weekend.”
Declaring a major incident would “force the issue” and “trigger a more robust response” from authorities, Bartlett said. He also raised concerns over how emergency services would be able to respond to a incidents if Dover continued to be cut off.
A 20 plus mile stretch of the M20 remains closed to accommodate queuing freight between Maidstone and Westernhanger ( Junctions 8 and 11).
