News

Hawkinge, Folkestone and Dover residents could soon be free from hold-ups on the M20, when queuing lorries which are unable to cross the Channel, cause the coastbound carriageway to be closed by police.

Kent County Council is gearing up its drive to ease congestion caused by lorry traffic in the south-east of the county,  during Operation Stack.

The council has shared its plans for a lorry park site close to the M20 with Transport Minister Tom Harris at a meeting in London this week attended by KCC Leader Paul Carter, Cabinet Member for Highways Keith Ferrin and Highway Director Geoff Harrison-Mee.

KCC is proposing that the costs of the £35million scheme should be met by introducing a 'Brit disc' charge levied on all cross-Channel lorry movements. Final arrangements for funding have yet to be agreed.

Keith Ferrin said: "The meeting with Tom Harris went very well and he was very helpful. We told him we are in a position where we have a degree of consensus and how we want to make a planning application in the near future.

"The lorry park will provide huge relief for people in east Kent. We have lobbied for some time and at last it looks as if we can go forward.

"Kent residents have suffered for too long from the impact of lorries when Operation Stack is on. It's time we gave them some good news."

The lorry park could be open in 18 months to two-and-a-half years, depending on progress with the planning application.