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downsmail.co.uk M20 gridlock fear post Brexit


AS confusion continues around customs controls post-Brexit, Kent County Council is being asked how the area’s roads will cope, with predictions of Operation Stack and border control backlogs.


It follows concerns of long queues building at the Port of Dover and the Channel Tunnel be- cause of customs checks after the country leaves Europe in March 2019.


Hollingbourne Parish Council


has been particularly vocal, fearing Operation Stack could become a permanent feature of Kent life. The county council, which this


week admitted there are “no guar- antees that we’re not going to have problems”, has been asked by Hollingbourne’s county councillor Shellina Prendergast to outline its traffic management plans. Parish councillor John Cobbett


told Downs Mail the effect of Stack for the village is traffic gridlock, which is replicated across the area. He added: “The Port of Dover,


the UK Chamber of Shipping, and the Road Haulage Association have made it clear that such a situation


M2’s overhaul


plans revealed MAJOR works to theM2at junction five, which will have serious impli- cations for Maidstone in the short and longer term, have been an- nounced by Highways England. The motorway is a key route through east Kent to the Port of Dover and the A249 interchange at Stockbury carries tens of thousands of vehicles each day, many of them heading to the county town. Regular users will have experi-


enced severe congestion at peak times and gridlock after incidents. Chairman of Maidstone’s Joint Transportation Board, Cllr David Burton, haswelcomed any news that will “improve connectivity” to and from Maidstone.Highways England claims the improvements would mean “crucial additional capacity for the junction and its approaches” to support developments in Kent and the Thames Estuary corridor. Public consultation runs until Oc-


tober 17. The key changes will be: the roundabout is to be made big- ger with a dedicated road for A249 traffic; new left turn filter lanes for traffic between the M2 and the A249; a single lane slip road from theM2 eastbound to the A249 northbound to avoid the Stockbury roundabout; measures for pedestrians. Cllr Burton said: “We’d welcome


any improvement to the major trans- port routes to and from Maidstone.” Details on the proposals and feed-


back forms will be available online until 11:45pm on October 17 at www.roads.highways.gov.uk/m2j5.


32 Maidstone Weald October 2017


will result in traffic chaos and Op- eration Stack, possibly perma- nently. “Kent County Council needs to


have a contingency plan or the county could grind to a standstill.”


The question will be tabled at the


next full council meeting of Kent County Council (KCC) at County Hall on Thursday, October 19, starting at 10am, with a response expected from Matthew Balfour,


the cabinet member for KCC’s highways and transport. Members of Hollingbourne Parish Council will attend, and interested residents are also invited. Aspokesman for the county coun-


cil told Downs Mail: “ADepartment for Transport (DfT) study into na- tional lorry parking supports anec- dotal evidence and previous studies in finding that on-site lorry parking facilities in the county are unable to meet demand for spaces. “KCC is carrying out feasibility studies for truckstops at various lo- cations along the M20/A20 and M2/A2 corridors and will look to work in partnership with the private sector to secure and promote these sites.


“KCC has long called on the gov- ernment to alleviate issueswhenOp- eration Stack is called which causes misery to residents and motorists.”


Delays as footbridge is replaced


DRIVERS face fivemonths of delays and lane closures on the M20 as work to replace a collapsed footbridge near Addington get under way. Lane closures, 24/7 speed


restrictions of 50mph, and narrow lanes will be in place, and hard shoulders and slip roads will be closed. The work is due to begin on Monday, October 30 and will include weekends, with completion expected byMarch 31, 2018. Highways England’s contractors, A-one+, will be replacing the bridge which stood between junctions 4 (Leybourne) and 3 (Borough Green and the M26). It was demolished after being struck by a digger, causing massive chaos during last year’s August bank holiday weekend. The new footbridge covers the


same footprint as the old one and some of the existing foundations


AYLESFORDMPTracey Crouch has joined forces with neighbouring MP Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) in calling for the re- placement of the M20 footbridge to be delayed until work starts on the “smart” motorway scheme on the same stretch. Posting on Facebook, Miss


Crouch said: “MP Tom Tugendhat and I have written to Highways England calling for a rare moment of common sense.” The MPs expressed concerns re-


will be re-used. Planned road closures during the scheme include lane 1 fromthe M26 onto the M20 on the coast- bound carriageway and the hard shoulder of the M20 London-bound and coastbound from J4 to J2. Full closures will be in place when the new bridge is lifted into place. Drivers wishing to continue their


journey along the M20 coastbound carriageway will be diverted off the M20 at junction 2 on to the A20


garding the scheduling of the East Street footbridge project, which is due to start near at the end of Oc- tober and is set to last for five months. The scheme is due for comple-


tion in March, when Highways England will begin work on the smart motorway project (SMP) to add an extra lane using the hard shoulder between M20 junctions 3 and 5, with disruption expected until January 2020. The letter to Highways England


London Road. Traffic heading for London will be diverted at the second exit onto the A228. The contractors said: “We have


made every effort to ensure disruption is kept to aminimum, but there will be inevitably be some noise and disruption generated by these works and for that we apologise in advance. When particularly noisy operations are unavoidable, we will aim to complete these before 11pm.”


MPs call forwork to coincide with ‘smart’ project


chief executive Jim O’Sullivan, said: “It would seem amore effec- tive and considerateway of sched- uling these works if Highways England were able to delay the in- stallation of the footbridge until March 2018 so that it can take place alongside the SMP works, when disruption is already ex- pected. If these projects could be merged, it would reduce the com- bined timescale by five months and lessen the impact for mo- torists and residents.”


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