The number of new homes expected to be built in Maidstone in the coming decades is a moveable feast.

First it was 882 a year over 20 years, then 1,214, and now the Government is proposing moving the goalposts again and raising that target to 1,569 per year by 2031.

Councillors of all parties and the borough's two MPs agree it seems an impossible figure .

But whatever the outcome is, it is clear that thousands of new homes means many thousands more cars.

And with an estimate average six journeys per household per day, Maidstone's creaking road system will struggle to cope.

Kent County Council (KCC) is the authority with the unenviable task of trying to keep the road network functioning.

Their biggest success in recent years has been the Maidstone gyratory scheme.

The £5.7m project was a year in the planning and took nine months to construct before being officially opened in March 2017.

It saw alterations to the road system by the town centre's two bridges to enable Chatham-bound traffic coming from Bishops Way to continue straight on without the need for crossing and re-crossing the River Medway as before.

The system still has its critics - especially among cyclists and pedestrians.

But most motorists would grudging admit it's better for them.

So what other grand schemes to ease congestion has Kent Highways in store for us now?

Fountain Lane

The latest plan off the block is to remodel the crossroads at Fountain Lane and Tonbridge Road in Barming.

Instead of the existing crossroads controlled by traffic lights, KCC wants to instal a double roundabout.

This scheme is the last in a series of proposals - nine in all - to improve the junction that has long been recognised as one of the key traffic hotspots at rush hours. It is getting steadily worse with the seemingly never-ending number of housing developments in Hermitage Lane, which Fountain Lane leads into. The far end of Hermitage Lane falls within the borough of Tonbridge and Malling and that council also seems intent on sanctioning huge housing growth along the road.

Previous proposals all had their critics in different quarters, but for once, there seem to be no strong objectors to this plan - perhaps because this scheme has actually been drawn up by a working group of highways officers, local borough and county councillors, so everyone is invested from the start.

At a meeting of the Maidstone Transportation Board (which comprises both county and borough councillors) earlier this month, members voted unanimously in favour of the plan progressing.

There are two flies in the ointment: for the scheme to work the Taj Barming Indian restaurant will have to be demolished and its owner, Kiron Haque, has not agreed to sell.

But even he admitted he thought the roundabout scheme would be good for the town.
The second fly is the lack of funding. The council is still £2,575,000 short of the £3,226,000 it needs.

Despite that, this scheme somehow feels like it will happen.

Leeds/Langley Relief Road

This project has been talked about for at least the last 30 years. In fact, Cllr Martin Cox, the leader of Maidstone Borough Council recently claimed it was being discussed when his grandfather was on the council in the 1960s.

Sometimes called the Leeds Bypass or the Southern Link Road, it has had many names.

The idea is to provide a new road to link through from the A274 Sutton Road to the A20 Ashford Road - and hence on to the M20 - at the same time sparing Leeds village of large volumes of traffic on unsuitable roads, and relieving congestion in south Maidstone.

Again there have been two problems. Firstly the cost, currently estimated to be £80m.

Secondly, there has been no agreement on what would be the best route, or even whether such a route could be justified, given the likely environment damage to the landscape.

There has also been something of borough/county divide on the issue - with the two authorities often taking differing views.

Earlier this month there was renewed optimism when Cllr Michael Payne (Con), the KCC cabinet member for highways, wrote an open letter to Cllr Cox, suggesting he was keen to see the scheme go ahead if cash were found.

But the county's projects manger Russell Boorman then made it clear to councillors that "KCC currently will not progress this as a stand-alone project."

He said KCC would look at it "when it was the right time to do so" which he suggested, could be after the borough had completed its Local Plan Review.

According to a quick back of an envelope calculation, the council would have to grant permission for another 13,500 homes along the Leeds corridor.

Developers offered up land for between 7,000 and 8,000 in the last Call for Sites.

There is a bit of a chicken-and-egg conundrum here. KCC wants MBC to commit to building enough new homes to get cash to pay for the relief road.

MBC says it can't commit to more homes unless there is the guarantee of a bypass.

Somehow, this doesn't feel like a scheme that is going anywhere fast.

Junction 7 improvements

At last some good news. An £11m scheme to ease congestion on the A249 near junction 7 of the M20 for Detling, is definitely going ahead.

The proposed scheme will involve introducing signals to the A249 Bearsted Road roundabout and enlarging the New Cut Road roundabout, while widening the carriageway between the two.

Additional smart technology will be installed to help smooth out traffic flows.

The scheme starts in November, with highways work beginning in April next year.

Maidstone's Integrated Transport Package

Yes, there really is such a thing.

The proposals include a package of changes right across Maidstone, from Coldharbour roundabout to the Wheatsheaf junction.

However, KCC's Senior Major Capital Programme Manager Russell Boorman apologised to members of October's meeting of the Joint Transportation Board (JTB) for the lack of progress.

He explained that because he had been tied up with implementing Emergency Active Travel Schemes across the county (such as the controversial pop-up cycle lanes in Maidstone's King Street), he had not had time to present the proposals to be signed off.

A20 Coldharbour Roundabout

Given cabinet approval, Mr Boorman said the plan to replace the A20 Coldharbour Roundabout with a much larger one, with three lanes on certain sections, while doing away with the current traffic signals there, would start "early in 2021."

Construction would take 18 to 24 months.

The scheme does not have the backing of local county division member Cllr Dan Daley (Lib Dem) who strongly believes that it is doomed to fail without traffic lights controlling traffic flows.

KCC is making provision so that new traffic lights could be installed later if it proved necessary. That prompted Cllr Daley to tell Mr Boorman: "I think that proves that you have a niggling fear that I am right."

Loose Road

All the Loose Road improvements will be progressed as one package, with work starting next summer, if the scheme were approved.

That includes an extra right-turn lane in Loose Road for Armstrong Road - and new junctions at the Wheatsheaf and Cripple Street.

The Wheatsheaf pub would be demolished and trees and a decorative “sheaf of wheat” could be installed on part of the land where the pub stands now.

But many had yet to be convinced that part, in particular, will prove beneficial, with more consultation expected.

A20 Ashford Road

Plans for improving the Willington Street junction with the A20 Ashford Road with a dedicated turning lane are delayed.

KCC still needs to consult the public on the need to move part of the historic ragstone wall around Mote Park.

It will also need to apply to Maidstone council for planning permission to shift the wall.

So no date can be set, but it is promised "sooner rather than later."

Willington Street

Similarly, there is an impasse regarding proposals to improve the Willington Street/Sutton Road junction.

Councillors and the public via a consultation have previously said they don't like the current plans for re-positioning bus-stops and compulsorily purchasing land in Willington Street to expand the width of the road so as to provide dedicated left-turn lanes on Sutton Road.

And highways officers have also previously admitted that the scheme, which would cost £2.5m, would bring "very little benefit."

However, Mr Boorman told councillors that his engineers had been unable to come up with anything better.

There is money available to pay for all the integrated package schemes - £2.5m from developer contributions and an £8.9m grant from the Government.

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