Operation Stack: what do HGV drivers think?

18 February 2016

You may remember the summer and the pictures from Kent of lorries parked up the M20 as cross-Channel services were disrupted by industrial action and migrant activity. The situation became bad enough to feature in the national media, alongside causing real problems for local residents and businesses as well as other users of the Strategic Road Network.

There seems to be broad agreement, reflected in the recently-closed Highways England consultation, that a long-term solution is needed for when this sort of thing happens again.

It is worth bearing in mind that a smaller operation, a kind of child of Stack, called TAP (‘Traffic Assessment Project’ acronym horror!) is in pretty much permanent use. This sees lorries creeping up the inside lane of the A20 as they approach Dover itself. Just before Christmas we went to Kent to see the situation first-hand and you can read what we found here.

What do lorry drivers make of all this? Perhaps one voice that is not heard enough? We will be asking HGV drivers what they think of the proposed lorry park sites, what facilities should be there and what level of preparedness is needed.

The results should be out in April. In the meantime see our response to the Highways England consultation here.

opstack-feb16

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