Issue - meetings

Lower Thames Crossing Formal Consultation Response

Meeting: 04/12/2018 - Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee (Item 131)

131 Lower Thames Crossing Formal Consultation Response pdf icon PDF 126 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mrs Tay Arnold, Planning Projects and Delivery Manager, informed the Committee that the deadline for submitting responses to the Lower Thames Crossing ‘Pre-Application’ Public Consultation was 20 December 2018.  The pertinent issues for MBC were the forecasted increase in traffic on roads such as the A229, A249, and M2 and subsequent air quality issues.  The urgent update provided additional information on traffic modelling, which supported the proposed response.

 

Councillor Grigg left the meeting at 7.48 p.m.

 

In response to questions from the Committee, Officers stated that:

 

·  The implementation of the crossing generally led to a relatively small increase in road traffic in Maidstone, and therefore no direct funding to address associated traffic capacity was available from this scheme.

 

·  There was an opportunity to work with Highways England to identify opportunities for funding to address existing road traffic capacity issues and the cumulative impact of the crossing.

 

·  Traffic modelling was not currently undertaken by MBC.  Consultancies were instead used to conduct this work.  This was a similar approach to other authorities such as KCC.

 

·  Ensuring Officers could interpret traffic models was more important than the in-house production of models.  Therefore, no Officer capacity was assigned for modelling.

 

The Committee commented that there was already significant pressure on roads in Maidstone.  With the opening of a new crossing, Highways England should consider diversifying traffic from the Dover port and Folkestone railhead.  Ferry traffic from Dover could be redirected along Jubilee Way, which would require an extension to the A2 in Dover and surrounding Districts.

 

RESOLVED: That the responses set out in paragraphs 1.28 to 1.33 be agreed as the Council’s response to the Highways England ‘pre application’ consultation on the Lower Thames Crossing, subject to the following amendment to page 68:

 

At a local level, improvements to the A229, particularly the interchange with the M2 (Junction 3) are imperative.  Consideration of routes further down to Dover is required to enhance the free flow of traffic.”

 

Voting: Unanimous