Folkestone Town Council (FTC) is helping Kent County Council (KCC) to deliver changes with local community support.
With the help of local residents FTC is developing a Highway Improvement Plan (HIP) to highlight NEW highways improvements and safety requests from local residents’ associations, community groups and individuals. Highway improvements can range from pedestrian crossings, traffic calming methods, cycling and walking schemes and speed management measures.
The Town Councillors have, for the past few months, been collecting information from local residents’ associations, community groups and individuals to highlight NEW highways improvement and safety requests. Councillors have now prioritised the improvements and submitted the HIP to the Community and Engagement Team at Kent County Council (KCC).
As part of this partnership working between FTC and KCC, Wear Bay Road has seen Folkestone’s first highway improvement. Following the proposal from a concerned resident, a traffic survey was conducted on the road that collected data over a 24-hour period for 7 days. The results showed that traffic warning signs were required to slow the traffic on that part of the road. The new signs were installed over the summer and demonstrates how suggestions from members of the community can be put into practice to make improvements.
Some examples of other suggestions that have been put forward and included in the HIP are bollards on Tile Kiln Lane to make pedestrians feel more secure along the pathway, caution signs highlighting to oncoming traffic that children or elderly people may be crossing and dropped kerbs along various roads to allow easier access for those in wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
The next stages for the HIP are as follows:
- KCC will review the HIP and assess the feasibility of each scheme to ascertain if they are able to take forward the idea.
- Each scheme, if approved, will be appraised, this will then determine how the scheme may be funded, some schemes may be funded externally by a Parish/Town Council or County Member, or internally by KCC.
- Scheme Delivery - Once the designs and final costs have been agreed the implementation of the scheme will begin.
The HIP is an ongoing pro-active way of prioritising ideas and concerns about highways improvements. Members of the public are encouraged to make contact with their Ward Councillor or County Councillor with any matters regarding their local area. Ward Councillor details can be found here Your Councillors - Folkestone Town Council (folkestone-tc.gov.uk)
Any day-to-day maintenance issues can continue to be logged via the online reporting tool by visiting kent.gov.uk and selecting ‘report a problem’, please find link below:
https://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-problem