
Local news portal 24 Chełm reported on 21 October that the queue of heavy trucks waiting to enter Ukraine via Dorohusk had stretched to **20 kilometres**, reaching the village of Janów on National Road 12. Traffic police have set up a buffer zone and are patrolling the line continuously to prevent blockages at farm driveways and side streets. The jam coincided with air-raid-related stoppages and illustrates how quickly congestion can propagate from the border back into domestic road networks. Residents complained of difficulty accessing properties, and the municipal council warned that emergency-vehicle response times could increase if the tailback grows further. For haulage firms the immediate cost is driver idle time: a 20-hour standstill can add €250–€300 per vehicle in wages and fuel for auxiliary heating. Some carriers are diverting via Korczowa or Medyka despite the longer eastern approach, calculating that a longer drive beats an immobile queue. Police advise private motorists to use alternative routes around Chełm and to reduce speed when overtaking parked lorries. The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) says it is reviewing options for an official truck-staging area west of Dorohusk, but funding is unlikely before 2028.
Source: 24 Chełm
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