Operation Brock begins in Kent this evening
The contraflow system will be installed on the M20 for vans and lorries travelling to the Port of Dover, alongside Eurostar holidaymakers.
Operation Brock will be set up this evening for the Easter holidays, installing a contraflow system across the M20, ahead of holidaymakers travelling through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.
The system separates traffic into different lanes across both carriageways. Once the contraflow is in, if you’re on the M20 but not going to the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel, your journey will be mostly unaffected. However port-bound HGVs will be impacted as they make their way to the Port of Dover or the Eurotunnel.
Toby Howe is the tactical lead at Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, he told us how to make the best of holiday travel through Kent:
"Listen to all the advice from the ferry companies or from the shuttle to make sure that you don't turn up too early, because one of the problems we have is people turning up too early and adding to that congestion unnecessarily.
"Also, make sure you are prepared for possible delays. So if you've got children on board, you've got enough for them.
"If you need medication, you've got enough because there could be queuing, there could be some delays. And also pay attention to traffic news from National Highways and Kent County Council ways to see if there are any other delays on the road network, and follow the signage that's put out.
"Don't try and find an alternative route. Obey the existing signage so that you will get there safely, you will get there on time, and you will get to your holiday on time."
The issue of alternate routes is one that has also come up recently in relation to the A20, where Easter roadworks are also predicted to cause problems.
Sets of traffic lights are to be installed between the villages of Lenham and Harrietsham on the already busy A20 in both directions from April 6 to May 29, to allow a foul main (sewage system) to be laid.
Harrietsham Parish Council chairman Eddie Powell warned that any disruption on the A20 if Op Brock is in situ has potential for “major issues”.
He added: “I know this work has to be done but Harrietsham has been absolutely battered for as long as I can remember. Don’t forget this is where people live and what is more the roads are in a terrible state at the moment.
“With what is happening in the Middle East at the moment I’d imagine France and Spain will be popular holiday destinations this year which means they’ll be heading for the Channel ports.
“Easter is the first big holiday of the year and if Brock is in place and they are working on the A20, it could cause major issues. If Brock goes down because of an accident, then it will be a nightmare here.”
Cllr said that many HGV drivers try and avoid the M20 and Brock and take their chances on the A20 instead.
Howe added that while Brock was initially designed as an emergency system, it was not set up to run as one, with significant planning and preparation going into its use, including factoring in port usage:
"What we do is at the Kent to Medway Resilience Forum, we receive booking data from the tunnel and the port. Generally over holiday period. So what we've seen over the Easter holidays are people getting away because in effect the tunnel and the port are the gateway to mainland Europe. It's the quickest route across the Channel, so we get tourist traffic from all over the UK heading through Kent to those two portals.
We get data showing the bookings and if the Port or the tunnel consider it's going to increase and could back out onto the road network, that's when we know there could be congestion...So that's when we implement Brock to hold back back those lorries."