A multi-million pound bid has been made to pay for road improvements at notorious bottlenecks and enhance infrastructure at the Port of Dover to ease congestion for cross-Channel traffic.

Kent County Council has called on the government for more cash to create better roads to support new customs controls for goods moving between the UK and the European Union.

The Levelling Up bid for up to £50million for large transport schemes was made in July.

Simon Jones, who is KCC’s corporate director for transport, said the changes would help the county “buy some time” to resolve long-term travel problems in and out of the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

He said: “This will help us manage the current situation a little better and hopefully relieve some of the local road issues, which we see all too frequently.”

KCC says the main aim of the scheme is to remove potential “bottlenecks” along the rest of the county’s roads and provide new passport controls for HGV drivers carrying goods and tourists.

Thousands of holidaymakers faced delays at Dover and Calais as schools broke up for the summer, ahead of new border rules coming into force next year.

'This year has been really tough for Dover...'

Levelling Up, which initially commenced in 2020, will see more funds made available by the UK government to local areas and councils.

In 2020, the government pledged to invest £4.8billion of Levelling Up funding to tackle the economic differences that remain between different parts of the UK by 2030 including towns, rural and coastal areas.

Funding is available to every local area as local authorities, like KCC, have submitted cash bids to improve their local communities, including better transport, town centres and culture.

KCC’s transport committee met yesterday (Sep 8) to review the progress made to date.

Cllr Mel Dawkins (Lab), who sits on KCC’s transport committee, described free flowing travel around Dover as a “national priority” as she says the government must urgently invest in improvements.

The Canterbury City South councillor said: “It is the gateway to Europe and we saw the chaos that happened in the summer.

“The residents of Dover and councillors were all calling on the government to do something about it because this was a part of the promise of Brexit.”

Cllr Dan Watkins (Con), who is KCC’s deputy cabinet member for transport, said he supported the launch of the bid. He added: “This year has been really tough for Dover.”

The successful Levelling Up bids are expected to be announced in autumn 2022.