A UK-French taskforce is to tackle Channel travel chaos after gridlocked traffic caused hours of hold-ups last weekend – with rail strikes on Saturday and holiday traffic expected to add to the misery.
The AA was forced to issue an “amber” traffic warning for this weekend – the first time the association has done so ahead of time.
On Friday, roads into the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone were not too badly affected by traffic, but some of the UK’s main routes are expected to be under pressure from Saturday due to rail services being disrupted because of a strike by train drivers.
Members of the drivers union Aslef at seven train operators will walk out for 24 hours over pay. It will hit services run by Arriva Rail London, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains.
Roads approaching Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone are expected to get busier, as well as those serving Devon and Cornwall, such as the M5, A303 and A30.
The M42 east of Birmingham, and the M60 and the M62 in Manchester have already become hotspots, as well as the A64 into York.
The southwest and western sections of the M25, the Bristol M4/M5 junction, and the M6, M42, M1 and M62 are also vulnerable to jams this weekend.
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The good news
However, a glimmer of good news came with UK Border Force and French border police announcing measures to “maximise passenger flows” at checkpoints either side of the English Channel this weekend.
In a joint statement, Police Aux Frontieres deputy director general Brigitte Lafourcade and director general of the UK Border Force Phil Douglas added: “France and the UK have been working closely together over recent days to prepare for the management of our shared border through the current period of increased passenger traffic.
“France and the UK will continue to work together intensively to support fluidity of freight and passengers across the Channel through the summer period and beyond.”
The port expects to welcome around 140,000 passengers, 45,000 cars and 18,000 freight vehicles between Thursday and Sunday.
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Taskforce
The new taskforce, to be known as the Passenger Working Group, has been established to try to minimise queue times and avoid further disruption for people travelling to either side of the border.
It plans to meet weekly throughout the summer to avoid a repeat of scenes last Saturday, when families reported being stuck at the Port of Dover for up to 11 hours due to heavy congestion.
It follows a row over who is to blame for the huge tailbacks building up at both Dover and the Eurotunnel entrance at Folkestone, which has been dubbed the “hotspot of holiday hell”.
Roads are expected to be “extremely busy” across Britain due to a combination of factors including the train strikes, the start of the English Football League season, the Commonwealth Games and summer holiday getaways.
To ensure people can still easily get to the games in Birmingham, the government said contingency measures are in place, including extra capacity on rail lines (that are running) and laying on coaches for spectators.
Ministers said flight cancellations have also recently fallen back to their 2019 levels after slot rules were relaxed to help airlines make sensible decisions about their schedule.
