I’m writing to let you know that the Operation Brock contraflow will be removed overnight on Friday 6 January 2023. This means that our work on the M20 Moveable Barrier Scheme can restart.
I’m pleased to say that we’ve now finished working within the central reservation, so there will be no further restrictions on the coastbound carriageway as part of this scheme.
We will now begin working within the London-bound verge and will continue to use the moveable barrier as our safety barrier on the London-bound carriageway; however, we only intend to have around eight miles of barrier in place at a time, starting at junction 9. For this phase there will be a new traffic management layout, and I’ve attached a graphic to illustrate this. The hard shoulder and inside lane will now be closed, and the two outside lanes will be open to London-bound traffic with a 50-mph speed restriction in place. This phase is due to finish in spring 2023, at which point we can remove the barrier. From then until late summer 2023 there will just be some finishing work to complete, which will require some lane closures. These timings are subject to change depending on any future deployments of the Brock contraflow system.
Overnight closures
To remove the contraflow system and set up for our London-bound verge work, the following overnight closures will be required.
London-bound carriageway
The M20 London-bound between junctions 9 and 8 will be closed from:
- 8:00pm on Friday 6 January until 6:00am on Saturday 7 January 2023
- 8:00pm on Saturday 7 January until 6:00am on Sunday 8 January 2023
During the day on Saturday 7 January 2023, the barrier will not in place on the London-bound carriageway; however, the 50 mph speed restriction will remain in place.
London-bound closure diversion route: a clearly signed diversion route along the A20 will be in place. Over-height vehicles should use the A2, M2 and A249.
Coastbound carriageway
The M20 coastbound between junctions 7 and 9 will be closed from:
- 8:00pm on Friday 6 January until 6:00am on Saturday 7 January 2023
Coastbound closure diversion route: traffic will be diverted off the M20 at junction 6 to connect with the A229, where drivers will be directed to use the A229 northbound to the M2 junction 3 where they’ll head eastbound along the M2 to junction 7. Traffic will then travel eastbound along the A2 to Dover Docks. Once in Dover, traffic will be directed to the London-bound A20 and on to the M20, where the diversion will end at M20 junction 10.
As ever, our dates are subject to change. You can check the National Highways closure report which is updated daily with the latest information: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/daily-closure-report/.