Neighbours call for traffic calming measures where fake speed camera stickers were put up in Kennington
Published: 00:01, 14 August 2018
Updated: 07:44, 14 August 2018
Anxious neighbours are calling for traffic calming measures to be introduced on a busy stretch of road after fake speed camera stickers were taken down by the council.
Motorists spotted the stickers on traffic islands in Canterbury Road, Kennington, outside the Harvester and Holiday Inn.
Kent County Council said they were fake and took them down, but residents say proper safety measures are needed along the stretch of the A28.
Dave Pain, who lives in Canterbury Road, said: "I can hear vehicles are clearly going over 30mph, especially early in the morning.
"What I think they should be putting in is one of those flashing signs because they are effective.
"Drivers speed up when they think they have gone past normal cameras but when those things flash, they actually try to slow down."
Other Canterbury Road residents felt the stickers were wrong and did not achieve their aim.
Martin Basden said: "It's appalling, they were just misleading the public. If you're trying to slow people down, do it properly.
"We can feel our houses shake along here.
"The amount of traffic on these roads, especially with all the new houses that are being built nearby, is just going to get worse and there isn't the proper infrastructure to cope."
Speeding isn't the only issue affecting the road's inhabitants.
This was echoed by Donald Young.
The 85-year-old, who's never moved from Ashford, said: "There's such a short distance to these traffic lights, I have lorries going by at 40 miles per hour and they have to quickly slow down when they get there.
"So there should be some sort of restriction measure there, especially because when I'm crossing the road, what with my legs as they are, I have a real challenge getting across in time.
"We can feel our houses shake along here" - Martin Basden
"Traffic these days is getting heavier and heavier and, what with the thousands of new houses, the roads need upgrading or residents will suffer.
"By developing and pushing things outside of the town, it makes people rely on cars and it makes the whole area busy. Yet the roads are still pretty much the same as they were 50 years ago."
"Cars go past every second already, but they'll constantly be bumper-to-bumper when the new houses come in and I don't think the council has thought about that."
It is not known who put up the stickers, but a spokesman from the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership said it did not install them and has no plans for a speed camera.
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