Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Rebuild of road begins
office and see how difficult they can make life for us.” Others say motorists can’t have it both ways, with Faversham resident Lorna Chapman posting: “You all moan about the state of the roads and you all moan when they try to fix them.”
Was there an alternative to the contraflow?
KCC says it looked at the option of completely closing the New Thanet Way and diverting the traffic along the Old Thanet Way through Whitstable and Herne Bay.
But after feedback from the community and local county councillors, it was felt the impact on motorists would have been greater than the contraflow, so the idea was ditched.
Could the work not have been carried out at the same time as the Chestfield Tunnel works last year?
KCC has explained why this wasn’t possible.
A spokesman said: “The Chestfield Tunnel works only required a contraflow for a short distance, as existing and useable crossover points were already positioned either side of the tunnel. In preparation for these reconstruction works, it was necessary to upgrade a crossover positioned close to the Dargate services. “This crossover had been installed within the original construction of the A299 Thanet Way – which is why streetlight columns were in the verges instead of central reservation - but considerable works were required to bring it into a condition suitable for this project.
“In addition, to account for the preparation works and emergency diversion routes, there was significant planning required in order to obtain road space on the network and to create the extensive traffic management plans.”
How will emergency vehicles navigate the contraflow during 999 calls?
KCC says it has engaged with emergency services during the planning of the project to make sure they’re aware. A spokesman added: “They are used to dealing with the fact that traffic management arrangements occur across the network and they plan accordingly.”
Who’s paying for the road to be reconstructed?
Taxpayers, obviously, but the lion’s share is coming from the Department for Transport, which has contributed £4 million
to the project.
KCC has chipped in £420,000 from its own road maintenance budget
How long will the contraflow be in place?
The expectation is July 12, with a further eight days of overnight closures afterwards
to allow for it to be removed. It means normal service should be resumed on July 21, barring no hiccups.
Will we notice a difference? KCC’S cabinet member for highways and transport, Neil Baker, believes so. “These extensive reconstruction works are essential if we are to continue to keep this road safe, and to minimise future disruption,” he said. “We realise some will be inconvenienced by this planned maintenance, but we have worked hard to come up with a way of doing this that minimises disruption to the travelling public as much as possible.
“Once this essential maintenance is completed we are confident there will be a noticeable difference in the quality of the surface, which I know will be welcomed by all road users.”