Major motorway to CLOSE this evening for vital works with diversion in place
MOTOR MAYHEM Major motorway to CLOSE this evening for vital works with diversion in place – check your route
A MAJOR motorway will close this evening for essential roadworks.
The road is used by up to 120,000 people per day.
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Lorry drivers waiting on the M20 in Kent
Credit: Alamy
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Operation Brock in action
Credit: Alamy
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Lorry drivers often face delays waiting for ferries in Dover
Credit: Getty
The M20 motorway will be closed this evening for vital works taking place between 8pm and 6am overnight.
The closure will take place in both directions between Junctions four and seven.
Junction four offers drivers exits for Rochester, meanwhile Junction 7 does so for Maidstone.
The closure covers the road's carriageways, slip roads and lanes for planned barrier works.
A National Highway spokesperson said: "These times have been chosen to minimise disruption to road users and ensure the roads are suitable for the traffic.'
This comes after other parts of the M20 were closed for the same period last night.
Westbound, the road was closed between Junctions 9 and 8, between Ashford and Lenham respectively.
Eastbound, the closure extended even further from Junction 9 to Junction 7.
Signed diversions were put in place to guide drivers to their destination using nearby roads.
Both sides of the road were re-opened today, with the usual national speed limit being re-implemented.
Drivers warned of travel chaos this Bank Holiday amid M20 closures
These closures took place to remove barriers for a contraflow which had been put in place over the bank holiday, to accommodate for heavy traffic during the school holidays.
These were rolled out as part of an initiative called Operation Brock.
This is a traffic holding system which enables lorries to queue for English Channel crossings.
Under Operation Brock, Dover-bound lorries queue on one side of the M20.
Meanwhile on the other side of the carriageway, a contraflow enables traffic to run in both directions.
The Operation was originally designed for use if the UK had left the European Union with a no-deal Brexit.
It is implemented by a group of local authorities called the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF).
Today, the BBC has released new data on the system's cost to the taxpayer.
Its use over the bank holiday weekend will have cost between £100,000 to £250,000.
Across 10 occasions when Operation Brock has been used between 2019 and 2024, it has required more than £2.7 million in funding.
Simon Jones, KMRF strategic lead for border disruption, told the BBC that it was never done "without having clear data of increased border crossings to inform our planning".
He said: "Until the government agrees permanent, long-term solutions to tackle disruption on Kent's roads and delays at the border during busy periods, Operation Brock is the only option available."
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Port of Dover traffic builds up due to border controls checks being carry out in Dover
Credit: Getty
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