Operation Brock background
The Quick Straits routes – by way of the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel – are used for exporting items from the UK to mainland Europe and past and carry very excessive volumes of cross-Channel certain heavy business automobiles ( HCVs ).
Any disruption to those routes can swiftly result in delays on the terminals. If delays on the cross-Channel routes are extreme, this will result in vital queues of HCVs on the M20 motorway and the trunk roads resulting in the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel. These delays considerably affect different Kent-bound site visitors.
To assist scale back disruption in Kent on the strategic and native highway community, Operation Brock offers on-road holding capability by means of a contraflow system. It’s a short-term answer developed by NHL to assist alleviate queues.
It does this whereas sustaining 2-way site visitors on the M20 motorway, within the occasion of cross-channel disruption.
It was first deployed in December 2020 and has been activated 5 instances:
as soon as in December 2020 to Could 2021
3 instances in 2022, between March to June, July to September and December to early January 2023
as soon as in Could 2023 to June 2023 (as of June 2023)
For additional data on Operation Brock, see the Activating operation brock part.
Nationwide Highways Restricted
Nationwide Highways Restricted ( NHL ) is the highways authority liable for working, sustaining and enhancing England’s motorways and main trunk roads.
It’s liable for reaching the federal government’s long-term plan for the strategic highway community.
Activating Operation Brock
Activation of Operation Brock is a call made by the Kent Resilience Discussion board which includes of:
Kent Police and emergency providers
Kent County Council
port representatives
NHL
When Operation Brock is activated, sure site visitors administration restrictions are at the moment applied on the M20 motorway utilizing a short lived site visitors regulation order.
These restrictions are as follows when Operation Brock is activated:
cross-Channel certain HCVs journey on the coastbound M20 motorway and are held at site visitors lights close to junction 9 of the M20 and launched the place there’s house on the terminals
journey on the coastbound M20 motorway and are held at site visitors lights close to junction 9 of the M20 and launched the place there’s house on the terminals all different automobiles journey on the M20 utilizing the contraflow in place on the London-bound carriageway
pace limits are restricted: the pace restrict by means of the contraflow on the London-bound carriageway is 50-mph in each instructions; and the pace restrict on the M20 coastbound carriageway for cross-Channel certain HCVs is 30-mph
is 30-mph automobiles wider than 2 metres can’t use sure lanes
Operation Brock site visitors administration restrictions are indicated by site visitors indicators, together with site visitors lights
Operation Brock has proved to be an efficient technique of minimising disruption. It additionally allows native residents and companies to proceed utilizing the M20 and the encompassing highway community.
It’s recognised that Operation Brock can nonetheless trigger some disruption for Kent locals. NHL and the Kent Resilience Discussion board works to repeatedly enhance the decision-making course of for when it’s deployed and the broader processes that help it.
As well as, the Division for Transport ( DfT ) is working with native stakeholders to discover if there are long run choices to exchange, or scale back the use, of Operation Brock.
Proposed statutory instrument
At present, the deployment of Operation Brock is applied utilizing a short lived site visitors regulation order – as a consequence of expire on 31 December 2023.
A statutory instrument is required to allow NHL to proceed to deploy Operation Brock on the M20 motorway after this time. The brand new statutory instrument won’t change the way in which by which Operation Brock at the moment operates on the M20 motorway.
It should solely change the authorized framework that provides NHL the facility to activate Operation Brock when it’s required, and it’ll solely stay in place for so long as Operation Brock is required.
The brand new instrument will limit site visitors because the short-term site visitors regulation order at the moment does.
Comparable restrictions will apply for using the A2 and A2070 trunk roads when Operation Brock is in use. Restrictions on these roads will proceed to be applied by NHL utilizing site visitors regulation orders.
This instrument is a everlasting secondary laws that might be made by the Secretary of State for Transport. It is going to be topic to evaluate by DfT after 5 years.
This statutory instrument is vital for site visitors administration on the M20 motorway so it may well proceed past 2023 and DfT are calling for views on it.
Extra data on how one can share your views is beneath.
Concerning the session
We’re asking for suggestions on a proposal for the Secretary of State for Transport to make a everlasting statutory instrument to proceed to control site visitors on the M20 when there’s disruption on the Quick Straits.
It won’t change how Operation Brock operates, however solely change thelegal framework that provides NHL the facility to control site visitors when it’s deployed.
See beneath for the session questions.
Session questions
1 Present your identify and electronic mail tackle.
2 Are you offering a person response or a response on behalf of an organisation?
Sure, I’m offering a response on behalf of my organisation
Sure, I’m offering a response on behalf of one other organisation
No, I’m offering my very own response (particular person)
3 What’s the identify of the organisation?
4 Which finest describes the organisation or firm?
small to medium enterprise (SME), as much as 50 workers
massive firm, above 50 workers
consultant organisation
commerce union
curiosity group
native authorities
central authorities
police
one other kind of organisation
5 What number of members or workers does the organisation or firm have?
1 to 50
51 to 100
101 to 150
above 50
6 Do you reside in Kent or close to the M20 freeway?
sure
no
unsure
7 Do you could have any feedback on using a statutory instrument to supply a authorized foundation for the deployment of Operation Brock?
sure
no
don’t know
8 What are your feedback on using a statutory instrument to supply a authorized foundation for the deployment of Operation Brock?
9 What different feedback would you prefer to make in regards to the proposed statutory instrument?
Methods to reply
The session interval started on 29 June 2023 and can run till 27 July 2023. Be sure that your response reaches us earlier than the cut-off date.
To answer to the questions, see the Methods to reply part.
When responding, state whether or not you’re responding as a person or representing the views of an organisation.
If responding on behalf of a bigger organisation, make it clear who the organisation represents and, the place relevant, how the views of members have been assembled.
In case you want different codecs of this doc, reminiscent of Braille. massive print or audio CD, contact OperationBrockSIs@dft.gov.uk.
What occurs subsequent
We are going to goal to publish a abstract of responses, together with the subsequent steps, inside 3 months of the session closing on 27 July 2023.
In case you have questions on this session, write to:
Division for Transport
Nice Minster Home
33 Horseferry Highway
London
SW1P 4DR
Alternatively, electronic mail OperationBrockSIs@dft.gov.uk.
Additional data
Freedom of knowledge
Info offered in response to this session, together with private data, could also be topic to publication or disclosure in accordance with the Freedom of Info Act 2000 ( FOIA ) or the Environmental Info Laws 2004.
If you would like the knowledge that you just present to be handled as confidential, please bear in mind that, below the FOIA , there’s a statutory code of observe with which public authorities should comply and which offers, amongst different issues, with obligations of confidence.
In view of this, it will be useful in the event you may clarify to us why you regard the knowledge you could have offered as confidential. If we obtain a request for disclosure of the knowledge, we are going to take full account of your clarification, however we can’t give an assurance that confidentiality could be maintained in all circumstances.
An computerized confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system won’t, of itself, be considered binding on the division.
The division will course of your private knowledge in accordance with the Information Safety Act ( DPA ) and within the majority of circumstances it will imply that your private knowledge won’t be disclosed to 3rd events.
Information safety
On this name for proof, we ask to your identify and electronic mail tackle, in case we have to contact you about your responses. You do not need to provide us this private data. however in the event you do present it, we are going to use it just for the aim of asking follow-up questions.
For organisations, we’re as well as asking for a quick description of your organisation to higher perceive the connection between your organisation’s work and the subject.
This name for proof and the processing of non-public knowledge that it entails is important for the train of our capabilities as a authorities division. In case your solutions comprise any data that permits you to be recognized, the division will, below knowledge safety legislation, be the controller for this data.
If responding to this name for proof on-line, your private knowledge might be processed on behalf of the division by SmartSurvey, which runs the survey assortment software program.
Your identify and electronic mail tackle won’t be shared with another third events, however your responses and proof could also be shared with a 3rd occasion for the needs of research.
We won’t use your identify or different private particulars that would determine you once we report the outcomes of the decision for proof. Any data you present might be stored securely and destroyed inside 12 months of the cut-off date.
Any data offered by means of the web questionnaire might be moved to our inner methods inside 2 months of thecall for proof interval finish date.
Session rules
This session is being performed consistent with the federal government’s session rules.
In case you have any feedback in regards to the session course of, contact:
Session Co-ordinator
Division for Transport
Zone 1/29 Nice Minster Home
London
SW1P 4DR
E-mail: session@dft.gsi.gov.uk
