The dream of a slip road off the A2 into Wincheap is dying, the Kentish Gazette can reveal.

It had been a cornerstone of Canterbury City Council’s transport strategy for the district, which is intended to support the 15,500 new homes contained within the Local Plan.

In its capacity as the highways authority, Kent County Council lent its support to the overall transport plan last week, but senior city councillors are growing pessimistic about a new A2 slip road becoming a reality.

Campaigners have for years been demanding the authorities connect the A2 coastbound with the A28 at Wincheap and Thanington to relieve pressure on other parts of the city and complement the three existing slips at the junction.

But council transport supremo, Peter Vickery-Jones, fears it will simply add to traffic using Wincheap, worsening both pollution and congestion, which the council has vowed to reduce.

The Tory councillor said: “The case has yet to be proven for a slip road off the A2 into the A28 at Wincheap.

“If we did this all it would do is deluge Wincheap, which is already congested. I can’t see it happening because there’s no money for a relief road through the industrial estate.”

When the city council announced its transport plan in March last year, it envisaged such a relief road would take traffic on to the A28 next to the Maidens Head pub.

Another proposal mooted is a relief road linking the A28 to the Rheims Way next to Aldi, but this would require a tunnel to be built under the railway line to and from Canterbury East.

Barton ward Tory Steve Williams says plans for the area are fraught with complications.

He said: “The idea of a slip road is not without merit, but there would need to be additional access to Wincheap.

“Traffic is already at a standstill during rush hour and this would only serve to compound that problem if linking with the main Wincheap road.

“This would also send cars towards the Wincheap roundabout, which already has numerous safety issues surrounding it – including the difficulty of getting onto it at peak times.

“It would need a relief road through the estate, but this too poses a number of issues.

“Buildings would have to be knocked down and perhaps even a tunnel built.

“In principle it all sounds like a good idea, but in practice – considering logistical, financial and planning implications – it’s not likely to happen any time soon.”

The £53 million transport plan is designed to accommodate extra traffic from the 15,500 homes planned for the Canterbury district in the years up to 2031, and is supposed to be paid for by contributions from housebuilders.

Its other key components are:

- A link road from the A257 at Littlebourne Road to the A28 Military Road through the Howe Barracks site

- A new junction on the A2 with roads connecting the New Dover Road and its park and ride to the Nackington Road, with a link for buses to South Canterbury Road

- A link road off Sturry Hill to Broad Oak Road and Sturry Road with a bridge over the railway line.

But Lib Dem county councillor Martin Vye has branded it a recipe for gridlock.

He said: “The strategy does nothing to solve the problem caused by building 4,000 extra houses on the southern side of the city.

“Residents in those houses, with up to two cars per house, will want to cross the city to their workplace, or to catch a train, or to deliver a child to school. They will use the Old and New Dover Roads.

“At the same time the strategy says that traffic will be coming up those roads from the proposed new off-slip at the Bridge interchange.

“And on top of that you will have bus lanes in those two roads making car movements even more difficult. It is a recipe for gridlock.”