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Article in Kent online 12 Jan 2023 gyratory system delayed
Gyratory System Article in 
Introduction
The article linked to below gives an introduction to the plans for a gyratory system in Wincheap. It is from Kent Online in December 2021.
The article linked above provides a clearer plan. Yellow is for the traffic going down Wincheap towards the A2 junction; Blue is for a contra-flow bus lane in Wincheap and Red is two lanes of traffic travelling towards the City centre and under the railway bridge towards the Wincheap Roundabout
THs design has several major flaws; two major ones are listed below: –
- Three very sharp turns for city bound traffic which will slow the overall pace of traffic in the whole system
- Loss of many parking spaces in Wincheap and on the industrial park road with consequent damage to businesses situated on the bus lane.
We have been promised consultation but no date has been set. The project is running behind schedule and could easily be imposed on Wincheap[ at short notice.
Meeting held at Thanington Neighbourhood Resource Centre: –
8 November 2022
There were about 60 people present at the meeting about the gyratory system on Tuesday. About half were local residents who managed to gatecrash the meeting and the rest were city and county councillors and Wincheap business owners/representatives. The panel consisted of representatives from Redrow, Walker Construction and Instinctif.
The ostensible purpose of the meeting was to inform Wincheap Industrial Estate businesses of the plans for construction work in Cow lane and Simmonds Road. Much time however was spent in lively and sometimes angry discussions about the gyratory system’s rationale (fulfilment of a Section 278 application which is now seemingly irreversible).
Work is expected to begin on January 9th 2023 and will last for 44 weeks in total. About 32 weeks will be for Cow Lane and Simmonds Road.
Work in to takes place in gradual stages on the industrial estate and will involve road closures and appropriate diversions for about 8 weeks for each stage.
Cow lane – 2 separate parts – 4 weeks each
Simmonds Road – now 3 separate parts (not 2)
It was very apparent that panel members were very defensive and were frequently unable to supply information about the project when asked about matters not related to the actual construction works.
The Redrow spokesman repeatedly refused to name the responsible contact in KCC. The Redrow spokesperson also refused to comment about the costs of the scheme. Councilor Mike Sole asked if Redrow would commit to sharing residents and businesses’ concerns about the scheme with KCC. No commitment was given but it was thought that it might be possible to set something up.
There was no representation from KCC management (who approved the gyratory system in 2017). There were no CCC employees either.
The roadway will be completely replaced and rebuilt. Access to the industrial estate will therefore involve different routes depending on which part of Cow Lane or Simmonds Road is closed to wheeled traffic. Walker Construction have promised that they will be maintaining a close liaison with all businesses affected by the closure, provide appropriate signage, and will help with problems relating to deliveries and reversing vehicles after deliveries have been made.
It was not made clear how many parking spaces will eventually be removed either in Wincheap or in Simmonds Road.
There was little time to discuss the work required on Wincheap to install the contraflow bus lane. There will be no need for road closures in Wincheap as all Canterbury bound traffic will need to use the gyratory system once the work on Cow Lane and Simmonds Road is complete..
An email address was set up during the meeting for putting together comments. Stopwincheaproadscheme@outlook.com
New article from Kent online
Wincheap one-way system labelled ‘completely mad’ as KCC gets set to start 10 months of roadworks
We hope to add your comments to this page and create a collection of views to present for any consultations that may be announced. Please email anything you would like to contribute to admin@winsoc.org.uk
Correspondence
Wincheap Gyratory – letter from Jon Osborne to Kentish Gazette
Wincheap Gyratory – Letter to Gazette from Barney Parsons
Wincheap Residents’ contributions
SS writes:-
“These proposals indicate piecemeal and wholly unsatisfactory traffic management layouts for Wincheap, Cow Lane, and Simmonds Road. They take little account of:
- the effect of stationary traffic at new traffic lights on Cow Lane on residents in Wincheap
- the dangers of two lanes of traffic at the Maiden’s Head trying to reduce to one lane to turn into the city
- the effect of three traffic lanes in Wincheap at the city end ( turning right out of Simmonds Rd there will be two outbound lanes and one inbound Bus Lane ).
- the loss of short-term parking for businesses that make Wincheap vibrant.
Also the proposal does not remove traffic from the first part ( Morrisons end ) of Wincheap as the earlier documents stated that city bound traffic will remain on Wincheap to Cow Lane and not be diverted along Ten Perch!
If you add in all the new development traffic plus the slip road vehicles, then that can only increase traffic for the residential area!
All of which illustrates the problems which flow from the fact that proposals for road redesign are led by private developers in a piecemeal fashion. This is the antithesis of the required solution, which should be designed and promoted by the City Council and Kent Highways for the overall good of residents.
The closure of Wincheap to through traffic is what is required. The historic road has the potential to be the centre of the community, rather than a congested A-road continually clogged with traffic and fumes. A vibrant, pedestrian-friendly Neighbourhood High Street feel would enable an increased number of small-scale retail businesses to flourish; foster an enhanced sense of community and make Wincheap an attractive destination for city residents and tourists alike.
With a comprehensive traffic realignment and redevelopment of the Estate, through traffic could be removed from Wincheap itself. Some two-way traffic would be retained for access to streets such as Tudor, York, and Victoria Roads. A scheme should also make provision for more short-term shopper parking.
The needs of pedestrians and cyclists should be prioritised. Any reduction of passing traffic/trade for businesses and retail would be balanced by a greatly improved environment for pedestrians and shoppers. It is recognised that some businesses such as the Esso garage may be affected, but that site could be redeveloped as small units around a new informal square.
A properly considered scheme would see traffic reduced in both volume and speed by careful road design; wider pavements; a dedicated cycle route along the entire road (as well as cycle and pedestrian links to the Estate); a 20 mph speed limit and trees planted wherever possible.”
JK writes
I am a resident of Wincheap (main road) and park my car on an offstreet drive on Simmonds road. Therefore I will be directly impacted by the chaos the gyratory will bring! At peak times in the morning there is already congestion from traffic heading into Canterbury which uses Simmonds road as a “rat run” and therefore this will only get worse when the gyratory system is in place. The problem is too much traffic rather than not the right route!!
I welcome the idea of Wincheap having less traffic so that café culture/neighbourhood spaces can be created, but this proposal is not in line with that vision.
The creation of more houses on the slip road will simply add to an existing problem and one that the gyratory system will not solve. Traffic needs to be diverted away from the Wincheap roundabout not simply diverted via a system that will create bottlenecks (eg maidens head) and increase pollution due to stationary traffic. Overall the system will cause queues at the Wincheap roundabout entrance and is a bad plan resulting from a bad housing plan!
MG contributes
“As a Wincheap resident for 54 years this type of detour of traffic has been mooted so many times. The current one has been deferred for a year to see what traffic problems might ensue from the Saxon Fields development.. As for having a bus only route, why are the only buses we get in Wincheap are school buses between 7.00am and 9.00am with one bus from Ashford during the day, The main buses travelling through Wincheap are park and ride which few residents use. Most residents use their own vehicles as the bus service is complete rubbish. The timetable is almost non- existent.
No one talks to residents as they seem to assume we are all stay at home oldies with only the newbies moving to Saxon Field needing to be catered for. When we bought our home in 1967 there was a regular bus service through Wincheap every fifteen minutes, and the service was well used; plus we had an hourly service through Wincheap to Ashford that covered the outlying villages. That all stopped when they closed St Augustine’s Hospital; then when they built 700 homes on the hospital site, traffic increased tenfold due to no public transport. Get the transport right and at the right price then maybe residents would leave cars in garages and use the buses.
BR writes
I run a shop in Wincheap and have done so for over 31 years now and have seen many changes over those years. Obviously, I spend a lot of time in my premises and have had first-hand experience of Wincheap traffic. Over these years the Wincheap roundabout has seen a number of changes and to date none have worked. Wincheap as a road itself does not have any traffic issues as all the issues are caused by what occurs at each end of it. At one end you have the Wincheap roundabout just mentioned; at the other end we have possibly the largest concentration of traffic lights in the entire southeast and these are the points that cause the actual congestion. With that in mind the ridiculous proposed gyratory system will still have these issues and so nothing will change and in fact will become worse due to the extra congestion caused at the Maidens Head junction.
I would also add that to gain access to the rear of my property I have to be travelling down Wincheap towards the city. I cannot negotiate the access from the other direction without being on the wrong side of the road. I also noted that although Wincheap was to be one-way buses would be exempt. Sounds a little like the stupidity of the Westgate Towers fiasco to accommodate buses which was eventually scrapped after the chaos it caused. It appears that bus companies rather than residents have more influence.
As I recall when the supposed local plan was originally published there was no planned housing in Thannington. However due to manipulation within the council it then suddenly appeared and now we have the Saxon Fields development. Yet again this has been manipulated as on the original plan the developers were only allowed to build 400 properties and then a slip road off the A2 onto the park and ride site was to be constructed. Had this been completed then traffic that has to come off at Harbledown and hoping to go to Ashford have to go towards the city centre and then up Wincheap. I recall when the park and ride was built next to the A2 and yet there was no access off the A2 onto the site which would have greatly removed many vehicles. Very poor planning yet again. Anyone who remembers when the park and ride first opened will remember the total chaos this caused.
Instead of this initially proposed slip road we now have a huge slip road simply to allow access for the developers onto their site. The cost of this slip road must have been eye watering and to add insult to injury the proposed further developments in this area can only make things far worse. I have attached the proposed plans.
It is a great shame that local planners are not involved in any of these proposals and even worse that the local population input has very little effect. You obviously have to be someone who has influence with the local authority and deep pockets.
I am strongly opposed to the proposed gyratory system.
Detailed Design
The picture below is taken from the planning application for the scheme which is CA/ /17/00519. It is very difficult to find in the application so it is reproduced below. It is far too late to comment to the council so please be encouraged to add your views to the Wincheap Society collection.
The design is labelled – Provisional Relief Road
