The Road Haulage Association is unhappy with plans to close the M26 motorway on Friday nights. As part of the Government’s post-Brexit plans, work is being carried out on Fridays between 11 pm and 6 am as they want to prepare this section of the motorway by creating a lorry park if there are delays at Dover and Eurotunnel.
However, the RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett, doesn’t believe the Government is acting in the public's best interests. Detailing the diversion, he said: “(it) will mean vehicles having to travel an extra 10 miles around the M25 to meet the M20 southbound. It also includes what we consider to be a very bizarre route to enable traffic to get back onto the M20. “Brexit has been a reality since the original vote and the whole point of a contingency plan is to prepare for the worst. With 130 days to go, why on earth is this work being left until the last minute?” The statistics seem to back up Burnett’s anger and confusion. Over 10,000 lorries and trucks use Dover as a base for their UK or Europe operations each day. With around half of them using the south section of the M25, the level of hold-ups and traffic jams could be severe. And, it isn’t only the commuting problem because there is an economic issue with the work being carried out so close to Christmas. Burnett believes hitting them with “additional financial burdens” will mean profits being "wiped out by the additional running costs this diversion will create.” The operation begins this Friday so travellers should get ready for disruptions and delays.