The cold morning on Wednesday saw serious problems on Bower Lane, Eynsford, near the junction with the High Street. Conditions on much of the road (for most of the way down from the East Hill end) were reasonable, but on the more northerly sections approaching Eynsford there was a buildup of ice. Several vehicles skidded into ditches, and a van overturned and blocked the road. There were no serious injuries, but the blockage of the road - starting at the time for travel to work and the school run - lasted for several hours.
Bower Lane is currently a secondary route, and these were not treated on Wednesday morning; to use Kent Highways' formulation, secondary routes are "only treated during prolonged periods of ice and snow." It has been argued that Bower Lane should be treated as a primary route, but this is most unlikely to be agreed; this designation is reserved for major strategic routes such as the A225. Nonetheless, there is a clear need to avoid a repetition of what happened on Wednesday. I will therefore be looking at installing at least one salt bin, paid for from my Member Highway Fund. Highways officers will also be looking at other issues, such as water runoff from the nearby fields. This latter situation has improved greatly since the severe flooding of a little over a year ago, but it may be possible to do more.
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