Roads

(asked on 25th October 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) projects designed to increase capacity on motorways to tackle potential delays at ports and customs terminals have started and (b) other UK road network projects are planned in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and what the estimated cost is of those projects.


Answered by
Chris Grayling Portrait
Chris Grayling
This question was answered on 30th October 2018

The Government expects to reach a deal with the EU which will avoid any such eventuality. But as a responsible Government we have to consider all eventualities, and are working to ensure that, should no deal be achieved, additional UK customs checks do not take place at the frontier, and so do not result in disruption to surrounding transport infrastructure. The possibility, that checks required by the EU in Member States might have such an effect, is being considered where appropriate by Local Resilience Fora (LRFs), with the ports themselves closely involved; and by the Devolved Administrations in relation to ports in their territories.

Specifically in relation to the short Strait crossings from Dover and through the Channel Tunnel, we announced in May the development of Operation Brock which, in the event of serious disruption to those routes from whatever cause, will ensure that the M20 will be kept open and traffic will continue to flow in both directions. Operation Brock consists of three phases, a contraflow queuing system on the M20, a holding areas at Manston Airport and, if necessary, a holding area on the M26. The Department is working closely with the Kent Resilience Form, the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and other associated bodies. The contraflow queuing system on the M20 will cost about £30 million to build and operate and would be used for all disruption events including those seen in 2015. The works required for the M26 are within the region of £5 million.

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