Raising Awareness for the A257 Group

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Raising awareness of The A257 Traffic Group

 

The A257 Traffic Group now has a dedicated information page on the Wingham Parish Council website: https://wingham-pc.gov.uk/the-a257-traffic-group/

The page has been set up to give residents easy access to updates from the A257 Traffic Group and other background information.

The Group formed in November 2010 following a traffic survey carried out in 2009 which showed a huge increase in traffic. Wingham invited other parishes to join and create a partnership group which has met regularly ever since.

The Group recognised that issues resulting from volume and size of traffic, accident levels, unsafe driving, and increased housing development, were all affecting much of the A257 and therefore combined their experience and local knowledge to document issues and provide a solid fact-based foundation for future discussions. This culminated in the production of the ‘A257 Plan’ launched in November 2018 which is available to read on the new dedicated webpage.

The Group has worked closely with District and County Councillors and with KCC Highways to reduce the speed on much of the A257, improve gateways, signs and bus stops and generally make the A257 safer.  There is much still to achieve, but the Group regularly encounter barriers which mean that change is often very difficult and always slow.

Currently the Group’s focus is on the ‘Shatterling Straight’ and Roman Road where reckless overtaking and danger to pedestrians from high-sided vehicles causing a vacuum as they pass is a continuing threat to the safety of all road users.

The A257 Traffic Group Chairman, Bryan Curtis, says: ”Working in partnership with parish representatives and residents, the Group are determined to continue seeking improvements on the A257 to make the road safer for all users.  Residents can help by letting their parish representatives know about issues and incidents they experience to give a true picture of traffic-related issues. We hope the new webpage will help keep residents informed.”