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Campaigners demand Kent County Council builds a crossing to break the 'Berlin Wall' of traffic in Hythe Road, Ashford

By: Vicky Castle

Published: 00:00, 27 February 2015

Updated: 14:13, 27 February 2015

A group of residents have revived a campaign to install a pedestrian crossing on Ashford’s 'Berlin Wall of traffic'.

John Goodman, of Earls Avenue, and his neighbours are urging Kent County Council to provide a safe crossing in Hythe Road, Willesborough.

The busy road is a main route in and out of Ashford and Mr Goodman said the volume of traffic has increased dramatically since their last petition two years ago.

A group of residents are re-launching a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing on the increasingly busy road

Mr Goodman said: "Access to services such as post offices, health centres and shops had become a source of daily stress for us.

"One lady in Hythe Road told me that she was so frightened to cross the road to get a bus into Ashford, that she was forced to take taxis to make the journey.

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"The regular implementation of Operation Stack makes it ten times worse since we are then forced to contend with armies of HGVs of all nationalities thundering past at high speed.

"It is no exaggeration to say that Hythe Road has been transformed from a suburban street into an urban freeway; and is now effectively a Berlin Wall of traffic dividing North and South Willesborough for half a mile in each direction."

The Berlin Wall

Drivers regularly flout the 30mph speed limit.

Mr Goodman first began to campaign for a crossing in 2012, drafting a petition and collecting hundreds of signatures.

He added: "When we last campaigned for this crossing, we raised a petition with hundreds of signatures but it fell on deaf ears. This time we won’t make the same mistake.

"We are all absolutely determined to keep chipping away at this issue, which is of vital importance to our every day lives and safety, until we can cross our road safely."

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