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Freight permits to control Dover-bound traffic

[ July 12, 2024   //   ]

A freight permit system for the Operation Brock queue for freight on the M20 to manage traffic in what is predicted to be a very busy summer for Dover and the Channel Tunnel. Large numbers of passengers are expected to head through Kent to Europe on holiday or to the Paris Olympic Games and Operation Brock is set to return to the M20 to help keep traffic moving.

Permits would be issued to Dover-bound freight drivers at the front of the Operation Brock queue.

To ensure freight drivers have followed the correct route, all freight heading to the Port of Dover would have to leave the A20 at the Courtwood Interchange, at the junction of the A20 and the B2011, where their permits would be checked at the end of the slip road. If they have complied, they will be allowed to re-enter the queue on the A20 and continue their onward journey to the port.

Local HGVs and deliveries will not be pulled off the A20, but allowed to continue their journey, with passenger and local traffic, onwards into Dover. Those Kent hauliers that qualify for a Local Haulier Permit will be sent this ahead of the busy summer period.

The permit system will also be introduced at both the Sevington IBF and the Ashford International truck stop to ensure that any freight drivers stopping at these sites do not fall foul of the system.

Port of Dover chief executive, Doug Bannister, said that predicted processing times inside the port will be up to two hours during weekend peak periods. .

He said: “As well as having even more tourist traffic coming our way this year, we have the added challenge of having to implement our infrastructure works required by France and the EU to support the EU’s new Entry / Exit system due to go live in October.”

Contractors are already on-site to construct facilities for this, which has reduced capacity in the port’s buffer zone, where traffic waits for French border clearance.

Doug Bannister  warned: “We have added in as much capacity as we can to compensate, but we have a duty of care to be responsible. On that basis, we are advising those who will be using the Port of Dover this summer that it will be exceptionally busy.”

He said that the new freight permit system would help reduce traffic on the surrounding Kent roads, an issue that impacts local residents and businesses.

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