Puissesseau said: "We have reduced waiting times for drivers and succeeded in maintaining the free flow of traffic. Today, there are no longer trucks waiting on the motorway to get into the port. This parking area is fulfilling its role perfectly and one wonders why we didn't do it before.”
Calais have posted their best-ever quarterly figures recently for cross-Channel freight with a total of 507,850 HGVs across the French port during the first three months of 2017, an increase of 11.2% compared to the same period in 2016. The detailed figures for the first half of the year have yet to be released but SEPD predicts that the traffic rose by 6% year on year.
Calais city hall has cancelled its partnership with property developer DCB International.
Calais mayor, Nathalie Bouchart, stated the council would now manage the development of the site on its own and that they had received interest from a range of potential investors elsewhere.
Bouchart also said that the project of German intermodal specialist Cargobeamer combined road-rail cargo terminal would be located at the site.
In November last year, the company was awarded a regional public authority grant of €2 million towards the project which focuses on transporting unaccompanied trailers between Calais and Leipzig - and beyond.
However, a date for the commencement of construction work has yet to be announced.
