Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect Operation Brock will have on congestion levels on the Kent (a) road network and (b) economy.

The Department for Transport has worked closely with the Kent Resilience Forum on developing traffic management plans, known as Operation Brock, to be used as a contingency in the event of severe disruption to travel via the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone and the Port of Dover. Operation Brock has been designed to ensure that the M20 motorway in Kent (the primary route to the Channel Tunnel and Port of Dover) will be kept open and traffic will continue to flow in both directions.

From Monday 28 October, a contraflow will be in place so that HGVs heading for mainland Europe use the coastbound carriageway of the M20 between junctions 8 and 9. All other traffic will run on the London-bound carriageway between these junctions. These arrangements will ensure that the M20 will be able to hold HGVs should traffic disruption result from delays to cross Channel services.

Operation Brock is intended as a replacement for Operation Stack during periods of severe and protracted disruption. Operation Stack involved closing junctions and carriageways on the M20 motorway to hold freight traffic in several locations. In contrast Operation Brock has been designed to allow traffic in Kent to keep flowing minimising congestion for the wider community, whilst providing the capacity to hold HGVs if needed.