Avoid Horn Street in July...

Despite residents, campaigners and councillors from Folkestone and Sandgate insisting that for the new Shorncliffe development to go ahead required a widened road bridge at Horn Street, Shepway Development Control decided... against making that a condition on the developer.

Instead of widening the bridge to allow east two-way running, there there will be traffic lights put on the bridge to enforce one-way running, and associated works to the approaches and creation of a junction to the new St Martins Plain and Stadium developments.

On Horn Street and Church Rd, the works widening of Horn Street and formation of new entrance to the St Martin's Plain development, change of priority at thr junction of Horn Street and Church Roadd, installation of signals to Horn Street Bridge and signalised crossing to Church Road have just started (28 June) and signs are warning works may take up to 22 weeks.

The formation of new entrance to the development on the Stadium site including some widening of Church Road (near the old Cadet Hall) are also already in progress.

Sandgate Councillor Tim Prater said:

"We can only now wait and see, but pretty much all local residents agree that the combination of traffic lights on Horn Street bridge and a big increase in traffic due to the new Shorncliffe development will see rfrequent road chaos in Horn Street, Church Road and spilling backwads on Cheriton Interchange and High Street.

"This chaos is simple to avoid: the bridge simply needed widening a little to support easy two-way running. The Shorncliffe development is of over 1,000 units: the cost of widening that bridge would hgave been a fraction of the profit the developers stand to make. The cost instead will be borne by local residents dealing with regular traffic jams as traffic volumes increase."