A change in layout for one of Maidstone’s busiest roads is on the cards as part of a £160,000 revamp.

Loose Road would be altered to create three lanes of traffic for Loose-bound traffic, leaving Maidstone-bound drivers filtering from two lanes into one.

The changes would be introduced between the Armstrong Road/Park Way crossroads and Sheals Crescent.

The extra lane on the Loose-bound side would be used by traffic turning right into Armstrong Road, preventing bunching at the junction.

The modifications will also see improvements to the pedestrian crossing.

Plans are expected to improve capacity by up to 6% during peak times. The road layout will stay as it is between the Wheatsheaf and Armstrong Road junctions.

Further towards Maidstone, lane markings will be altered to create two continuous streams of traffic into Sheals Crescent, removing the need for vehicles joining from Upper Stone Street to give way.

No changes are planned for College Road or College Avenue.

A council report states: “The A229 suffers from congestion and delays during the morning and evening peak periods. The draft strategy identified it as an area suffering from poor journey time reliability and prioritised the need for measures to be implemented that can reduce delays.”

Councillors will also hear of plans to make Cranbourne Avenue, near the junction with the Wheatsheaf, eastbound only.

Traffic would only be able to enter from Loose Road and the council says this would allow an extra 340 vehicles through the stretch of road every hour.

The junction had been earmarked for closure but the plans were shelved after residents and councillors campaigned against them.

A number of bus stops on both side of Loose Road would also be removed or replaced after transport officers found when buses stop to pick up or drop off passengers queues can quickly form.

The project forms part of the Maidstone Integrated Transport Package, which also involves rebuilding the Maidstone Bridges gyratory.

Proposals will be voted on at Monday’s joint transportation committee meeting, held at the Town Hall in Maidstone High Street, at 5pm.