Jams in Dover: update

I hear much rubbish talking of lorry jams in Dover, and how much worse they have been since the beginning of the year.

This isn't really true.

The nature of the queues are different, and don't take place every day.

Jools travels from here to Hythe every weekday, so she sees the effects every day, and she says, and traffic radar backs this up, that the Dover TAP is only in operation three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On other days there is no queue.

What we can say is that the queues are only on the A20 on the approach into town from Folkestone. In general, there are no queues on the A2.

However.

This is happening on much lower traffic flows than seen before January and the pandemic. We saw that in the summer of 2019 when French customs trialled their protocols, and queues of truck built up to Folkestone in a single morning. These are the same protocols in operation now, so different ruslt, except on three days a week.

And because of the paperwork needed to clear customs, the rest of the waiting time for drivers and their goods is hidden.

Waiting times at the Inland Border Facility in Ashford is nearly two days.

Then waiting at warehouses and hubs for paperwork to clear and be approved.

The queues at Dover are there, but just the tip of the iceberg.

In answer to our local MP's statement that 650 jobs have been created, but the reason is to deal with Brexit-related red tape that Brexiteers said would be less than when we were a member state.

Dover is a border town once again. In the 70s, Jools and her brohter used to sell newspapers and snacks to cars waiting to get to the port down Crabble Hill, adding a penny or two on top to give themselves pocket money. I think the border will get harder and the town might be able to get a benefit, but we should remember that since 1992, the Port, Kent County Council and Highways England have streamlined traffic so that hardly any stopped in Dover any more, it was to get traffic from the ferries out of the town and on their way ASAP.

That was the point of the EU SM and CU. All now thrown away and to be replaced by red tape that was always going to be reintroduced, not reduced.