downsmail.co.uk


Works mean road will be good ‘for 40 years’


WILLINGTON Street will be fit for purpose for the next 40 years, once the replacement works have been completed. Alan Casson, resurfacing man-


ager for KCC, says the scale of the £1.2m scheme is exceptional be- cause the road, which links theA20 Ashford Roadwith theA274 Sutton Road in the east of Maidstone, has an abnormally shallow base layer, which causes fre- quent and costly re- pairs.


Instead of under- Alan Casson


taking compara- tively minor work such as surface dressing or superfi- cial resurfacing, the


road is being completely replaced, which means burrowing down 50cm to the unmade sub-base (soil) level and replacing all the material above. The first phase, between Sutton


Road and Denton Close, is due to be completed on August 31 when the road is able to re-open to through traffic. The remaining sec-


tions ofWillington Street will be re- paired in two further phases dur- ing the Easter and summer school holidays of 2015. Mr Casson said:“We are building


the road from scratch in a very sim- ilarway to how a developerwould create a new road. “We will not be getting potholes


on this road for a long, long time. These occur because of loss of strength and the old age of a road, but this will last for 40 years with very little management.” Surveys are undertaken on A, B


and C roads in Kent every two years. It was one of these that flagged up the irreparable state of Willington Street, which, unlike motorways and some other main roads, became a heaving thorough- fare by accident rather than design. “This used to be a country lane


before itwaswidened in the 1960s. The road construction layers are thin and it was never intended for the amount of traffic it now caters for,” Mr Casson added. The high volume of lorries, in particular, hastened the demise of


the surface, with just a single HGV having the equivalent impact of 10,000 cars, according toMrCasson. The overall project involves dig-


ging up 6,000 tonnes of material and then laying down the same amount over 2km. The surface will be given extra strength by a geo- textile membrane beneath a special sub-base and a geogrid composite membrane near the surface. KCChas imposed a five-year ban


on any utility companies from dig- ging up the road. While the phase one closure has caused inconvenience to some res- idents of Willington Street and those of nearby roads, others have said they have enjoyed the unfa- miliar peace and quiet.  Comment – pages 32 and 33.


News Now showing


MAIDSTONE Film Society starts its 66th season this autumn with a programme of international films. The season starts in September


with The Grand Budapest Hotel, from Germany, and finishes in April with Sunshine on Leith. Other highlights include The Lunchbox from India, The Selfish Giant from theUKandAHijacking from Denmark. Films are shown in the Hazlitt Theatre at 8pm on Mondays.Mem- bership is £24 for the season. For details, go to www.maid- stone-film-society.org.uk, or call the secretary on 01622 746078.


Tree facing axe


A PROTECTED sycamore tree to the rear of 4 Cinnamon Grovemay be reduced by 30% “to protect pedestrians on the footpath”. A planning application, which


will be determined by Maidstone Council, says the tree suffers from severe dieback and requests the re- moval of deadwood.


Office opens


LEADING supplier Kite Packaging has opened a base in Maidstone. The sales office at Kent House in Romney Place will employ a small team working with the company’s Harlow branch and it is hoped that further recruitment will follow.


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