News


Op Stack solution elusive with Brexit on the horizon


DEPARTMENT for Transport bosses have admitted that finding a permanent solution toOperation Stack is proving harder than first anticipated. With less than a year to go before


theUK leaves the EuropeanUnion, anxieties are growing that therewill be regular standstills on theM20 if a deal is not struck byMarch 2019. According to a source close to the


DfT, Highways England (HE), the agency taskedto finda solution pre- Brexit, is exploring all permanent possibilities, including a lorry park and even a continuation of Opera- tion Stack. We understand that, as temporary


measures,HE plans to use the hard shoulder of theM20, bring theM26 into commission or create a freight holding area nearWhitfield,Dover. Last year, the then Port of Dover


chief executive Tim Waggott warned of 17-mile queues either side of the Channel if the two- minute average freight processing time per vehicle is increased after Brexit. About 10,000 freight move-


ments pass through the Port of Dover each day.Observers arewor- ried that queues of lorries will stretch back to Maidstone, causing misery to residents and businesses on the alternativeA20 route. Villages aroundMaidstonemight


also suffer severe congestion. No avenues to permanently solve


the absence of a lorry park have proved successful, a source close to theDfT told us. The source added: “The clock is


ticking and it seems that the solu- tion toOperation Stack ismoreOp-


eration Stack. It has been in place for three decades and no solution has been found.What are the chances it is going to happen in 12 months? Some politicians don’t get howlong this has been going on and are con- tinuing to bury their heads in the sand. “Theymight discover to their cost


howpolitically toxic thismight turn out to be.” But DownsMail has learned that


in anticipation of issues, Highways England will start to reinforce the hard shoulder between junctions eight (LeedsCastle/Maidstone) and junction nine (Ashford). The work is due to be finished byOctober. This temporary measure would


create the capacity for 3,000 lorries. If traffic is likely to back up be-


yond the capacity of the M20, the DfT has indicated itwould consider using theM26 (which links theM20 and theM25). The Department for Transport


spokesman said: “The department will be consulting on a permanent solution in due course.”


downsmail.co.uk £200kRushjob


for townsalon AFTER five weeks undergo- ing refurbishment, award- winning RushHair hasmoved into a newsalon in the county town. The move to Week Street –


from Fremlin Walk – keeps the business in Maidstone, creates five new jobs and fol- lows a £200,000 investment by the company. The unisex salon, which


opened onApril 28, offers late night opening hours and ap- pointments on Sundays. StellAndrew, co-founder of


RushHair, says the newstate- of-the-art premises is good news for loyal customers and first-timers. In November, Rush’s styl-


ists were recognised as Artis- tic Teamof the Year at the 2017 British HairdressingAwards. The relocation of Rush


Maidstone follows a string of new salon openings in Lon- don and South-East over the past year, bringing the total across the group to 93.


26


Maidstone June 2018


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