The long-awaited A2 off-slip at Wincheap will be “an accident waiting to happen” when it opens, a city councillor fears.

Approved designs show how the new road will come off the coastbound dual carriageway before looping back around to a remodelled Ten Perch Road.

The divisive proposals have sparked fears of accidents similar to last week’s M2 lorry crash, which saw an HGV overturn across the slip-road at junction 5 for Sittingbourne.

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Cllr Eden-Green, who brands the plans for the A2 as “inherently dangerous”, says the new road is too short and will not be up to standard.

“One would have thought that highways engineers would have advanced their thinking on road design since the M2 was built,” he said.

“Yet the plan for the slip-road at Wincheap shows it to be shorter than normal length and culminate in a hairpin bend.

“So if lorry drivers can manage to crash their vehicles at Sittingbourne, the chances of doing so at Wincheap are infinitely greater.

“This will be inherently dangerous and the accident near Sittingbourne only highlights the fact.”

Pentland Homes is footing the total bill of the £8.8 million scheme as a condition of its approved Cockering Farm development in Thanington.

Dubbed a key piece of transport infrastructure within the district’s Local Plan, the new route aims to alleviate traffic through ever-clogged-up Wincheap.

After going around the hairpin, vehicles using the new off-slip will be directed to a new roundabout set to be constructed on the current Park and Ride car park.

They will then follow a restructured route through Wincheap Industrial Estate, onto Simmonds Road and onto the A28.

Cllr Eden-Green added: “Coming from Ashford, city-bound drivers on the A28 will face no less than three 90-degree bends at Cow Lane, then into Simmonds Road and then back onto Wincheap by the Maidens Head. And this is supposed to be a relief road.”

Despite the concerns - which are shared by the Wincheap Society and parish council - the slip-road’s design is fundamentally set in stone following collaboration between Highways England, Kent County Council and Canterbury City Council.

With deals on the land yet to be finalised, a date for the start of construction is yet to be set.

As part of the development, the Park and Ride will be enlarged and improvements will be made to the retail estate.

A spokesman for Highways England said: “This new slip road on the A2 is part of the planning consent for the new Thanington Park development at Wincheap.

"It is being delivered by Pentland Homes and we are working with them, Kent County Council and Canterbury City Council to ensure the design meets all safety standards."