Traffic pollution solutions

By lwilson

WAYS to cut traffic pollution in Westerham have been put forward by a traffic group – after council suggestions were branded "pathetic".

Improvements could include only allowing vehicles to drive north up London Road, setting up a one-way system around the Green, a bypass and a mini-roundabout at the junction of the A25 and Hosey Hill.

The proposals are aimed at cutting congestion and easing the flow of traffic, which should help reduce nitrogen dioxide levels.

The ideas have been put forward to Westerham Parish Council by members of a traffic group set up as part of the "Your Westerham – The Future" process.

Resident Peter Cashmore said: "Our traffic survey showed 8,000 vehicles a day turning out of London Road. Nearly 2,000 were turning right. If they're turning right, you're getting stoppage and if you're getting stoppage you've got pollution."

Parish council highways and lightings committee chairman David Jewitt said at times vehicles can tail back all the way along London Road to the Beggars Lane roundabout.

However, the plans may cause controversy, with parish councillor David Le Breton suggesting people who live off London Road were likely to be unhappy about having to use Beggars Lane as the southerly route in order to get into Westerham.

There were also possible problems with motorists having to turn out on to the 50mph stretch of the A25.

Dr Jewitt said: "I know a family from Bromley who say the access from Beggars Lane is so dangerous."

Mr Cashmore suggested a roundabout at the junction, similar to one on the same road near Oxted, might be a solution.

The traffic group put forward the idea of a one-way route around the Green, entering by Vicarage Hill and exiting by the Wolfe statue, after discovering the road was a common concern of people it surveyed.

Mr Cashmore said: "It was one of the major concerns of all the people in our survey. There was quite strong feeling they wanted a one way system."

Westerham town centre is designated an Air Quality Management Area, because levels of nitrogen dioxide – which can cause asthma and respiratory infections in children – exceed Government targets.

Sevenoaks District Council has set out an action plan to tackle levels of pollution, mainly caused by car exhausts, including encouraging cycling racks and highlighting narrow parts of the road to discourage parking.

However, when the draft was published parish council chairman Alan Wesley branded the plans pathetic and tokenism.

A bypass and a roundabout at the junction of the A25 and Hosey Hill have previously been suggested as solutions.

Kent Highway Services will be asked how feasible these ideas are.