ROAD bosses are considering a plan to charge motorists to drive on the A2 and M2 in a bid to cut traffic congestion.

The Highways Agency and Kent County Council unveiled the suggestions to members of the Thames Gateway Kent Board.

The agency’s regional strategy director, Gwyn Drake, said they were examining a series of proposals for the A2/M2 including tolls, separate lanes for car sharing and limiting who could use the roads.

It was not clear from the meeting how the limiting would work but possibilities could include temporary lorry bans or no cars with only one driver.

Another proposal is segregated road lanes with cars having more than one passenger getting priority.

One of the leading politicians on the board, Cllr John Burden, the Labour leader of Gravesham council, urged the other politicians to get behind the ideas.

He said: “If we are going to make the Gateway work, we have to have a transport strategy and choices of trains, buses or cars. But it comes at a cost. If it means charging, then so be it.

“That may be a charging structure to go on the road network, which is very tricky for us to talk about, particularly with next May’s elections, but we cannot have the whole system based on cars.”

Highlighting the issue, he said that he was one of at least three people from the Kent Thameside area who travelled in separate cars to get to the meeting in Kent Science Park at Sittingbourne.

Rob White, the head of major projects at KCC, said there was little room for more roads in the area. He confirmed: “We are looking at demand management, road pricing and its political acceptability.

“You cannot overstate demand management: how do we get people on to buses, what about parking charges, and urban traffic control?”

He forecast a five to 10 per cent shift away from cars if the demand management regime was vigorous enough.

The idea of people living in North Kent using alternative forms of transport has been a cornerstone of the Thames Gateway Kent plan since its earliest days.

Its first chief executive, Marc Hume, said the roads could not handle the thousands of extra people who would be living in North Kent.

Since then Fastrack has been developed, providing rapid transit mainly on reserved roads between Dartford and Gravesend. Medway Council has a scheme for buses and cars to share road space.