This weekend saw chaos descend on Dover and Kent’s roads. Half-term holiday getaway traffic was compounded by travellers flocking to Dover to try to take ferries after cancelled flights. The Port continues to operate with some reduced ferry capacity with P&O still having only two of its four ferries operating after their disgraceful mass sacking back in March. Added to which the French border police were operating at reduced cover levels when the passenger traffic surged on Sunday. All this combined to make it a weekend of travel misery for Dover town, and residents of Aycliffe who faced day and night disruption with operation TAP.
I called for a review of National Highways current ‘sticking plaster approach’ in Parliament just days before the current chaos descended.
It’s vital to Keep Dover Clear so that residents can go about their daily lives and to support our local economy too. The sticking plaster approach for Dover and Kent’s roads needs a complete overhaul as it increasingly doesn’t work for Dover, Kent or the UK as a whole. The misery caused by the TAP system isn’t right or fair. To avoid a summer of chaos on our roads, there needs to be a complete review of the traffic management systems now – and nothing should be off the table.