Crockenhill: further measures to improve junction

Earlier this year a series of measures, paid for from my Member Highway Fund, were installed to improve safety at the junction of Cray Road, Main Road and Broadway. These included Slow signs, an interactive sign for traffic coming from the Orpington direction and high friction surfacing.

The final stage of the scheme was to add granite sets that would further encourage drivers to slow down. However, at a late stage it emerged that these would require road closures of ten days each to be set up - which, with sets proposed for all three directions approaching the junction, would clearly have a major impact on the village.

Some alternative options have been canvassed, both by Highways officers and the Parish Council, and late last week we all met on site to examine the issue. Kent Highways have brought forward a widely-used German technology, which takes only three days to bed in and promises to be highly durable. This looks to be the best way forward, and we are now examining ways in which any road closures can be achieved with minimum disruption.

We also looked at the need to introduce Slow signs and improved signage further back on Green Court Road (near the brow of the hill), coupled with staggered railings at the edge of the village green; these measures can be paid for from my Member Highway Fund. Back at the junction, we examined options for a crossing. A full zebra crossing is problematic in terms of both cost and the practicalities of how it can be implemented; we agreed that Kent Highways would look into the possibilities of a more informal crossing, as well as some temporary or experimental buildouts at the junction that could encourage traffic calming and help us examine further the best options for any crossing.