Residents along a busy route have been left uncertain as to whether they will see the reduction in speed limits they have been calling for after highway officers opposed the move.
Loose and Linton Ward councillor Brian Clark (Lib Dem) had asked Kent County Council for a report on the possibility of reducing the 40mph limit on the A229 Loose Road in Maidstone, from the Loose Viaduct through to the start of the 30mph limit on the other side of the Linton crossroads on Linton Hill.
His request came after he and his fellow ward councillor Simon Wales (Lib Dem) carried out a survey of residents living along the road and found that 94% (115 out of 122 responses) were in favour of a reduction to 30mph
The Maidstone Joint Transportation Board met to consider the issue on July 9, with a KCC highways officer, Paul Leary, joining the meeting via video link.
But he didn’t bring the news councillors and residents had hoped for.
Along the length of the 40mph speed limit, there has been 10 reported collisions resulting in personal injury over the last three years, one of them was a fatal crash in July 2023 when a man in his 70s died.
Despite these figures, Mr Leary said highways officers did not feel lowering the speed limit was justifiable.
This was partly because Kent Police had not related the cause of the accidents to excessive speeding; some had been attributed to driver impairment through illness or alcohol.
The road itself was “generally wide” with the traffic signal-controlled crossroads junction with the B2163 being the only major interchange.
The road was mostly straight with only a few minor bends.
Mr Leary said the core function of the A229 was as a strategic, primary route, connecting Maidstone in the north to Staplehurst in the south.
Data indicated that the average speed for cars heading north from Linton to Loose was 37mph and the 85th percentile speed was 40mph.
Heading south from Loose to Linton, the data showed an average speed of 35mph and 85th percentile speed of 39mph.
These figures were too high to install a 30mph limit, with Mr Leary saying that traffic limits needed to be self-enforcing. Putting a 30mph limit in a zone where drivers naturally wished to go faster, actually made the road less safe, by encouraging some drivers to overtake the vehicle in front, if they considered it to be moving unreasonably slowly.
But Cllr Clark said that Mr Leary’s report had missed out key points. Because the road has a 40mph limit, residents are not legally allowed to park in the road at night without showing parking lights.
He argued that if they were allowed to do so, they would act as a natural traffic-calming measure, and the average speed would come down.
In addition, because Loose was a “dark village” with no street lights, the side roads off the A229 did not automatically become 30mph limits as they would if there were normally spaced street columns.
Therefore, the lack of a 30mph limit on the main road, also led cars to do 40mph on the side roads, where it was clearly less safe to do so.
He said: “Linton Crossroads is at capacity and, like variable speed limits on the motorway, when there is congestion at the junction, reducing mean speeds can improve safety without reducing throughput.”
He said that all maintaining a 40mph limit did was to enable motorists to race up to join the queue at the crossroads quicker.
He said the idea that the A229 needed to stay at 40mph because of its strategic importance was also “inconsistent.”
He pointed out that KCC had supported a reduction to 30mph at other key routes, including on the A20 at Harrietsham, on the Heath Road at Boughton Monchelsea and on Dean Street at East Farleigh.
Furthermore, there was already a separate developer-funded scheme, resulting from the construction of the Greensands Surgery in Coxheath, that was shortly to pay for a 30mph limit across Linton Crossroads.
When completed, that would leave a small stretch of 40mph between the crossroads and the existing 30mph limit on the Linton side.
He said that Loose and Linton Parish Councils had agreed to jointly fund any necessary signage to support the reduction to 30mph, so it was not even necessary for KCC to dip its hand into its pockets.
Cllr Clark ended with a plea: “Why can’t we just do what the community wants?”
Cllr Higson agreed, also pointing out that there had already been a reduction of 40mph to 30mph further along the A229 at Cranbrook, while Cllr Stuart Jeffery (Green) reminded everyone that the area around the Linton Crossroads was heavily used by school children attending the adjacent Cornwallis Academy and the neighbouring One School.
Cllr Jeffery added: “Officers are here to advise; councillors to make recommendations and decisions.”
Cllr Claire Kehily (Green) seconded Cllr Clark’s motion that the 30mph reduction go ahead, despite the officers’ stance.
But county councillor Paul Thomas (Reform UK) asked Mr Leary: “If the proposal they’re putting forward is to effectively overrule your recommendation; in highway terms, is that satisfactory for them to downgrade to 30mph?
“Or is this a motion that we can’t follow through on?”
Mr Leary responded: “It’s within the board’s gift to put forward a motion, but our professional opinion as highway engineers is clear in the report.”
He warned: “Reduced speed limits do not necessarily lead to reduced speeds.
“We have to make the limit as self-enforcing as best we can.
“Our assessment is that 40 is the most appropriate limit at this current time. That’s not to say the limit can’t be reviewed if the situation changes in future.”
The board, which consists of both Maidstone borough and Kent county councillors, voted by 10 votes to zero to recommend a 30mph limit. Five county council members abstained.
Cllr Clark said: “Sometimes the community has to speak, and we get it right, I feel, even if policy is not in our favour.”
It remains to be seen whether Kent Highways will act on the board’s recommendation.
Cllr Clark was hopeful. He said: “There have been occasions when Kent Highways has been persuaded to change its mind, as it did with the speed reduction in Dean Street. Let us hope this is one of those occasions.”
A spokesman for KCC said: “The Maidstone Joint Transportation Board has put forward a request which will be considered.
“As JTBs are advisory only, and do not have decision-making powers, this recommendation will be shared with the cabinet member for highways and transport, Cllr Peter Osborne (Reform UK), who ultimately makes the final decision.”
