Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the M20 Motorway (Junctions 7 to 11) (Temporary Restriction and Prohibition of Traffic) Regulations 2023.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 7th November 2023.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.

Review

2.—(1) The Secretary of State must from time to time—

(a) carry out a review of the regulatory provision contained in these Regulations, and

(b) publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review.

(2) The first report must be published before 7th November 2028.

(3) Subsequent reports must be published at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

(4) Section 30(4) of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015( 2) requires that a report published under this regulation must, in particular—

(a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision referred to in paragraph (1)(a),

(b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,

(c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and

(d) if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way which involves less onerous regulatory provision.

(5) In this regulation, “ regulatory provision” has the same meaning as in sections 28 to 32 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (see section 32 of that Act).

Interpretation

3.  In these Regulations—

“ A20” means the A20 trunk road;

“ contraflow” means a part of a carriageway of a road where traffic is authorised to proceed in the opposite direction to the usual direction of traffic on that part;

“ cross-Channel bound goods vehicle” means a heavy commercial vehicle on a journey to a place outside the United Kingdom via the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone or which involves embarking from the Port of Dover;

“ fifth length of carriageway” has the meaning given in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“ first connecting road” has the meaning given in Schedule 2 to these Regulations;

“ first length of carriageway” has the meaning given in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“ fourth length of carriageway” has the meaning given in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“ hard shoulder” means the hard shoulder within the meaning of regulation 3(1)(e) of the Motorway Regulations, which is adjacent to the sixth length of carriageway;

“ M20” means the M20 motorway;

“ Motorway Regulations” means the Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982( 3);

“ overall width” has the meaning given in regulation 3(2) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986( 4);

“ second connecting road” has the meaning given in Schedule 2 to these Regulations;

“ second length of carriageway” has the meaning given in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“ sixth length of carriageway” has the meaning given in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“ third connecting road” has the meaning given in Schedule 2 to these Regulations;

“ third length of carriageway” has the meaning given in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“ tip of the nosing” means, as indicated by the markings on the carriageway, the first point where an entry slip or link road joins, or the last point where an entry slip or link road leaves the carriageway; and

“ traffic officer” means an individual designated as a traffic officer under section 2 of the Traffic Management Act 2004( 5).

General carriageway restrictions

4.  Subject to regulations 9 and 10, no person may—

(a) cause or permit any vehicle other than a cross-Channel bound goods vehicle to enter or proceed in the fifth length of carriageway or in the first connecting road; or

(b) cause or permit any vehicle to enter or proceed in the fourth length of carriageway or in a third connecting road.

Speed restrictions

5.  Subject to regulations 9 and 11, no person may—

(a) drive any vehicle at a speed exceeding 50 miles per hour on the second length of carriageway, the third length of carriageway, the sixth length of carriageway or a second connecting road; or

(b) drive any cross-Channel bound goods vehicle at a speed exceeding 30 miles per hour on the first length of carriageway.

London-bound carriageway restrictions

6.  Subject to regulation 9, where a contraflow is in operation on the London-bound carriageway of the sixth length of carriageway—

(a) no person may cause or permit any vehicle to enter or proceed in the outside and middle lanes of the London-bound carriageway in any direction other than coast-bound;

(b) no person may cause or permit any cross-Channel bound goods vehicle to enter or proceed in the contraflow; and

(c) no person may cause or permit any vehicle other than a cross-Channel bound goods vehicle to enter or proceed in the coast-bound carriageway beyond the entry point to the contraflow.

Partial suspension of the Motorway Regulations

7.  Subject to regulation 9—

(a) regulation 6(3) of the Motorway Regulations is suspended in relation to vehicles travelling coast-bound in the contraflow on the London-bound carriageway of the sixth length of carriageway; and

(b) regulation 5 of the Motorway Regulations and, in so far as it relates to a vehicle being driven, regulation 9 of the Motorway Regulations are suspended in relation to the hard shoulder.

Vehicle width restrictions where the contraflow is in operation

8.  Subject to regulations 9 and 10, where the contraflow is in operation no person may cause or permit any vehicle with an overall width exceeding 2.0 metres to enter or proceed in the sixth length of carriageway in—

(a) the right-hand lane of the coast-bound contraflow when two lanes are available; or

(b) the right-hand lane of the London-bound carriageway.

Use of traffic signs to implement the restrictions

9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), regulations 4 to 8 apply only—

(a) at such times and to such extent as indicated from time to time by traffic signs; and

(b) when no restriction is in force by virtue of an order or notice made under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984( 6).

(2) Regulation 6(b) does not apply where the traffic signs referred to in article 3(1)(c) of the Heavy Commercial Vehicles in Kent (No.3) Order 2019( 7) are displayed in accordance with that article.

Exemptions to regulations 4 and 8

10.  Regulations 4 and 8 do not apply to—

(a) a vehicle being used for police, ambulance, fire and rescue authority emergency response purposes;

(b) a vehicle being used by or on behalf of National Highways Limited( 8) for the management of traffic or for maintenance purposes; or

(c) anything done at the direction of, or with the permission of, a constable or traffic officer in uniform.

Exemptions to regulation 5

11.  Regulation 5 does not apply to a vehicle being used for police, ambulance or fire and rescue authority emergency response purposes, or to vehicles falling within regulation 3(4) of the Road Traffic Exemptions (Special Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011( 9) where a vehicle is being used in accordance with regulation 3(5) of those Regulations.

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 1 LENGTH OF CARRIAGEWAY

In these Regulations—

“ first length of carriageway” means the coast-bound carriageway of the M20 between a point 605 metres south-east of the centreline of Eyhorne Street overbridge and a point 70 metres south-east of the centreline of Sandyhurst Lane overbridge;

“ second length of carriageway” means the London-bound carriageway of the M20 between a point 450 metres north-west of the tip of the nosing of the entry slip road at junction 10 and a point 2100 metres south-east of the centreline of Hockers Lane overbridge;

“ third length of carriageway” means the coast-bound carriageway of the M20 between a point 640 metres south-east of the centreline of Hockers Lane overbridge to the point where it enters the sixth length of carriageway, and from the point where it leaves the sixth length of carriageway to the centreline of the western overbridge at junction 9 of the M20;

“ fourth length of carriageway” means—

“ fifth length of carriageway” means the coast-bound carriageway of the M20 between a point 305 metres south-east of the centreline of Eyhorne Street overbridge and a point 320 metres south-east of the centreline of Sandyhurst Lane overbridge;

“ sixth length of carriageway” means the M20 between junctions 8 and 9 from the entry point to the contraflow, at a maximum extent of 305 metres south-east of the centreline of Eyhorne Street overbridge, to the exit point from the contraflow, at a maximum extent of 320 metres south-east of the centreline of Sandyhurst Lane overbridge.

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 2 CONNECTING ROAD

In these Regulations—

“ first connecting road” means the entry slip road leading to the coast-bound carriageway of the M20 at junction 8;

“ second connecting road” means any of the following roads—

“ third connecting road” means any of the following roads—

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations permit temporary carriageway, speed and vehicle-width restrictions, as indicated by traffic signs, on lengths of the M20 motorway (Junctions 7 to 11). This is to assist with delays when there is traffic at the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone or the Port of Dover.

Regulation 2 requires the Secretary of State to review the regulatory provision contained in these Regulations and publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review. The first report must be published before 7th November 2028 and subsequent reports must be published at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

Contravention of these Regulations is an offence under section 17(4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

An impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations as no significant impact on the cost of business or the voluntary sector is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the Regulations atwww.legislation.gov.uk.