Representation by James Booth
- Date submitted
- 23 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The LTC will increase traffic on the A227 cutting through to and from the M20 and M26, in particular goods vehicles. NO BUDGET HAS BEEN SET ASIDE TO MITIGATE THIS. NO ACTIONS TO RESTRICT HGV USE OF THE A227 (or other through traffic) HAS BEE PROPOSED. With the advent of a new good vehicle parking facility on the A227 - close to junction 2a of the M26, vehicles will avoid travelling North to the M25 when existing the LTC and instead use the A227. The A227 is a SINGLE CARRIAGEWAY road that already struggles to meet peak time demands (traffic jams and frequencies make local travel at peak times problematical). The A227 is in very poor condition, particularly from Culverstone Green to Wrotham, is rarely maintained, the surface is excessively uneven to a dangerous level, and, frequently large vehicles struggle to pass each other as the road is narrow and badly defined at the edges. This section of road has frequent accidents and several fatalities in the last decade. The increase in traffic on the A227 is forecast to be five fold from 2000 to 10,000 vehicles per day, however, I think this is a overly conservative estimate. The A227 runs through greenbelt, has many section 30 mph due to houses, schools etc, and, is certainly more akin to a B road than an A road, It will NOT be able to handle increases in traffic.