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    Dear Gary Dodd

    Dover TAP
    Thank you for your email to the Secretary of State for Transport about the recent queues in Dover. I have been asked to reply as the policy officer for Kent Traffic Management.

    First of all, I'd like to apologise for the disturbance that the Dover TAP has caused you since its implementation. We never intend to delay our travellers on their journeys, and believe that Dover TAP is the best solution for periods of increased traffic in the area.

    The traffic lights are positioned close to Western Heights roundabout to allow the Port of Dover Police (who are located on the roundabout) to see which freight has complied and queued in lane 1 and which lorries have tried to bypass the system and use lane 2. The Western Heights roundabout is then where the Port of Dover Police turn non-compliant freight back.

    TAP was put in place in 2016 following the significant port disruption in 2015 in which freight and other vehicles gridlocked Dover to such an extent that all routes in and out of Dover became blocked for many miles. National Highways worked with the Port of Dover and Dover District Council and agreed to install the traffic lights along the A20 to enable the Port of Dover to manage the queue and avoid Dover becoming gridlocked when there's disrupted service at the port.

    The key aspect of TAP remains safety for both the Port of Dover Police who operate TAP and the road users. Over the last few years disruption at the ports has increased and National Highways are aware that using the Strategic Road Network more and more frequently to queue disrupted freight is an unsustainable solution.

    DfT, National Highways and other Kent Resilience Forum partners continue to work together to look at alternative methods of dealing with the affected traffic when ports are disrupted.
    We trust this information answers your questions, however please don't hesitate to contact us, should you require any further information.

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