Brock does not work

The bottom line is Operation Brock is not a solution to address the issues which arise through our ports in Dover and Folkestone. Harrietsham like the many others villages through which traffic is diverted has been impacted all summer. Me and my family on many occasions had to cancel our plans due to the volume of traffic on the A20 and local roads. It has been unsafe for our children to use the pavements to meet friends, walk to the shops or even attempt to cross the A20 to get to the bus stop to travel into town with the constant slow of cars and HGV's speeding through Harrietsham. Although Harrietsham has the A20 running through it so some traffic noise is expected, over the summer the increase in noise levels and I suspect pollution levels as a result of Op Brock has been unbearable.

The organisation of the system is shameful. There are very basic things which for Kent county council and national highways should have considered and monitored throughout.

• Poor signage - causing traffic to be in the wrong lanes with so many near misses and some accidents at Jn8 coast bound as well as traffic which should be taking the M20 forced to then take the A20.
• Joining at Jn8 - traffic not able to rejoin coast bound at Jn8 again forcing increased traffic along the A20 as no-one will travel back up to Jn7 to re-join.
• Lack of controls for HGVs - nothing preventing HGV's, specifically foreign drivers exiting coast bound at Jn8 and traveling along the A20 to avoid Brock. Yes we heard about a handful of fines but that does no equate to the 1000's of lorries we have all experienced traveling along the A20 throughout the day and night over the whole summer.
• Lack of speed controls along the A20 - At times the A20 was at a standstill, but at other times traffic was speeding through Harrietsham as HGV's and cars had absolute no regard for speed limits, the unsafe and dangerous conditions created for pedestrians and increased traffic noise as a result.
• Navigation systems not showing correct information - with such a major traffic measure being put in place there needs to be coordination with companies providing navigation data to stop traffic just being redirected along the A20 and follow the measure being put in place as well as ensuring the data remains up to date. As an example Google Maps was showing the M20 closed to all coast bound traffic from Jn8 when it was open taking me 3 attempts to get Google to correct it.

Even with more consideration, better planning and coordination with Op Brock, it still does not work as a long term measure for port disruption and delays especially when we see the new EU laws coming into force in 2023 with fingerprint/biometric data being required at the ports.

What we need is a long term strategy to deal with the port challenges and volume of traffic. There has to be multiple lorry parks built not only in the areas near ports but outside and further up towards the M25 where HGV traffic can be somehow filtered to closer locations to prevent the build up which ultimately impacts local villages like Harrietsham along the A20 as well as those residents in Dover and Folkestone. This needs to be done BEFORE next summer - we cannot have a repeat of this again, it is unfair on Kent and its residents.