M26 closed overnight for a week

[AlanHolt]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... l2Ls9WiZVs

[daveuprite]

Hilarious. 'Resilience Planning' they are calling it !

Bert: "I've decided to shoot myself in the foot"
Ernie: "Don't do it Bert"
Bert: "Don't worry, I'm planning for afterwards. I have bandages ready, I've paid for surgeons to be on hand to patch me up and I have a blood transfusion ordered"
Ernie: "But Bert you don't have to shoot yourself in the foot. It'll hurt a lot and you don't need to do it"
Bert: "No, you don't understand Ernie. I've decided to do it so I must go ahead"
Ernie: "You could save a lot of money and pain by just not firing Bert. It was a perfectly good foot - don't ruin it"
Bert: "But I've started preparing now, so here goes..."

[Tramp]

They have a perfectly good Army base which is used for operation stack.... Its a local politician being a asshole as usual... More wasted government money...

[OnHellas]

Operation Stack has been around since way before any Brexit referendum was even thought of.

Most potential solutions have been stopped but the not in my back yard brigade.
They don’t want those nasty lorries near them.....just all the goods they carry...of course.

Kent needs a proper lorry park with proper facilities. In fact the U.K. as a whole needs more decent facilities for trucks, and not at he exorbitant prices currently demanded by Motorway Service operators.

Ashford council have closed lots of lay-bys to overnight truck parking and are actively clamping and fining the drivers.

[simonw]

...Most potential solutions have been stopped but the not in my back yard brigade...

Without wishing to open this particular can of worms, the location chosen for the last lorry park plan was a HUGE area of green land and the development would have totally wiped it out. Sadly we are building over so much of Kent it is fast moving from being the garden of England to the patio of England.

[OnHellas]

...Most potential solutions have been stopped but the not in my back yard brigade...

Without wishing to open this particular can of worms, the location chosen for the last lorry park plan was a HUGE area of green land and the development would have totally wiped it out. Sadly we are building over so much of Kent it is fast moving from being the garden of England to the patio of England.

It’s a real tough one. I don’t want to see Kent become one big slab of concrete either. Although judging by the state of the roads it’s be classed as crazy paving at best!!

But I do believe that Kent needs more truck parking with proper facilities. If you give truck drivers proper facilities the knock on effect should be less bottles of truckers lemonade lining the hedgerows.

Parking should be made cost effective to the haulier too. £28.50 at Wetherby is just crazy. If the truck is out 5 nights for the week.......no wonder hauliers won’t reimburse their drivers for Motorway Services parking....no wonder trucks are parked on industrial estates overnight. And as for what passes for a laybye in some of our main roads....have you tried sleeping in one in a vehicle. Not comfortable, not a very safe feeling either being a few feet away from passing traffic.

This is an issue that’s been around for decades. Thankfully I haven’t been a full time truck driver for over 20 years.

[daveuprite]

...Most potential solutions have been stopped but the not in my back yard brigade...

Without wishing to open this particular can of worms, the location chosen for the last lorry park plan was a HUGE area of green land and the development would have totally wiped it out. Sadly we are building over so much of Kent it is fast moving from being the garden of England to the patio of England.

It’s a real tough one. I don’t want to see Kent become one big slab of concrete either. Although judging by the state of the roads it’s be classed as crazy paving at best!!

But I do believe that Kent needs more truck parking with proper facilities. If you give truck drivers proper facilities the knock on effect should be less bottles of truckers lemonade lining the hedgerows.

Parking should be made cost effective to the haulier too. £28.50 at Wetherby is just crazy. If the truck is out 5 nights for the week.......no wonder hauliers won’t reimburse their drivers for Motorway Services parking....no wonder trucks are parked on industrial estates overnight. And as for what passes for a laybye in some of our main roads....have you tried sleeping in one in a vehicle. Not comfortable, not a very safe feeling either being a few feet away from passing traffic.

This is an issue that’s been around for decades. Thankfully I haven’t been a full time truck driver for over 20 years.

Interesting subject. I did a trip back to blighty a few years ago, which involved the need to stop and sleep in my van off the M25 in Essex. I thought that a proper service area would be safest, and I had a 6 grand Fireblade in the back so I needed to be careful where I parked. At a Service Area near Thurrock overnight parking beyond 2 hours was signposted at 25 quid! (With a hefty fine for not paying up). Prostitutes patrolled the truck park more thoroughly than staff and a couple of large rats were inspecting a pile of rubbish in the bushes. I ended up coming off the M-Way and finding the poshest looking residential road I could find and kipping down there.

The UK Highways Agency and planners could learn a lot from the facilities available for trucks here in France. Motorway 'aire's (which are rest areas) are at regular intervals along most autoroutes and some N-roads too. These aren't expensive service areas just used to milk motorists of money. They are usually well-designed landscaped park-up areas with seating, shade for the Summer months, sometimes a small play area, a tourist map of the area and nearly always a well maintained toilet block. Parking is free with plenty of room for large lorries as well as cars. In addition many communes which have a major N-road passing through provide a park-up area and toilets, often near a 'relais' - which is basically a restaurant with a simple fixed price menu for truck drivers. Lay-by stops are also commonplace, usually with a bin provided. Litter is rare and fly-tipping almost unheard of.

[HedgeHopper]

Dave its ok if you think the UK is shit and everyone who voted leave is a fucking idiot, we all have an opinion, but taking every opportunity to have a pop at the country YOU fucked off and LEFT is getting a tad old now.

[daveuprite]

Dave its ok if you think the UK is shit and everyone who voted leave is a fucking idiot, we all have an opinion, but taking every opportunity to have a pop at the country YOU fucked off and LEFT is getting a tad old now.

Wow. i didn't think things had got quite this bad...

[DavidS]

Daveuprite is actually spot on with this one.
The French understand distance travelling whether by car or truck.
We just leave everyone to their own devices or rip them off.


But French truckers still p*ss against their vehicle wheels rather than use the toilets 10m away.