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downsmail.co.uk


Road changes to improve safety


CHANGES to the layout of the Running Horse roundabout were due to go ahead as we went to press after critics complained that new lane markings installed last year were dangerous and confus- ing.


Police call for more money Continued from page one


levy (CIL), which is a vehicle for in- frastructural developer contribu- tions that the council is hoping to establish in the local plan. “The growth in population will


place significant greater demands on policing, particularly as the majority of these dwellings will be built on greenfield sites.” AKent Police spokesman said: “Regardless of the outcome [of the planning application], residents can rest assured that Kent Police will continue to use every resource at its


disposal to provide the best possible service for the people of Kent. “Kent Police objected to Maid-


stone Council’s local plan in May 2014, for the same reasons outlined.” A Maidstone Council spokesman


said: “Funding for community safety, including contributions to- wards policing, would be possible under the community infrastructure levy if this was deemed necessary and appropriate. “The council is working towards adopting CIL in parallel with the local plan process.”


Work on the A229 junction close to M20 Junction 6 was carried out nine months ago by KCC to make it safer, but many drivers felt the system had the opposite effect. Kent Police also raised concerns that the current markings were confusing to drivers and could lead to inappropriate lane discipline and collisions.


Currently, traffic entering the roundabout from Sandling Lane and heading towards Aylesford is instructed to take the inner lane on the roundabout, then immediately switch to the outer one to take the second exit. But many drivers have complained that this results in ve- hicles cutting up those that follow


the more conventional way, as ad- vised in the Highway Code, of stay- ing in the outer laneof the roundabout if going left or straight on.


John Burr, KCC’s director of


highways, said the lanes were changed in April to tackle the sig- nificant level of serious crashes at the roundabout which had the highest number in Kent, with 27 ac- cidents causing injuries in three years. Recent figures showed there had since been no serious crashes there. However, as part of KCC’s mon- itoring process to assess the impact of these changes, it was found that some drivers were still queue jumping, changing lanes and enter- ing the roundabout at speed. He said: “We have discussed pro- posed amendments to signs and changes in road markings to ad- dress this with Kent Police and plan to introduce these in spring.”


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01622 902005 6 Maidstone Town March 2015


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