Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Time to have say on Towers traffic system proposals
embarked on the towers’ closure last year.
“The idea now is to put ideas out for the public to comment on. We have a commitment from KCC Highways that there will be public meetings arranged in October.”
Canterbury City Council introduced the scheme in March last year with the aim of reducing traffic in St Dunstan’s Street and protecting the towers from damage caused by vehicles scraping them.
The gateway was closed and only buses and taxis were allowed to enter St Peter’s Place from St Dunstan’s. Traffic passed around the towers and was controlled by lights on either side.
Critics said the scheme simply pushed traffic into other roads, particularly Station Road West and London Road, and demanded the original system was restored – which KCC did in April.
KCC- led preliminary talks about a new scheme have taken place, but so far in secret.
Cllr Vye went on: “If we want to improved traffic flows, we must start by drawing residents and traders into the process of coming up with ideas and formulating proposals.
“Therefore, any steering group should have comprised at least the residents’ associations and traders’ groups.
“I was not consulted on the composition of the steering group, nor on the timing of its work. Apart from county council members and officers, it comprised city council leaders and Stagecoach – precisely the drivers of the botched scheme.
“Options for the future traffic arrangements for St Dunstan’s will be consulted on. It is vital that we have public meetings to discuss them.
“If any option promises a return to the traffic misery of the past year, then I will be fighting it.”
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