I live on Willington Street and that has lorries during the night all the year ‘round. After a while you stop hearing them.
There is talk of a relief road but there was talk of that when I bought the house eleven years ago.
Maidstone desperately needs the relief road but I doubt it will be built, just more and more houses instead.
As I type this there is a continual procession of HGVs going past and it is so frustrating to know there is nothing you can do about it. We had a brief respite over the weekend which I suspect was due to the Leeds Castle Firework display.
Youve put me right off moving down that way
It depends where you're thinking of moving to, this is a nice area on the whole.
It would be an area id consider when deciding to move away. Am I right in thinking your renting your place . Did you not know what these roads were like before you moved in or is there not much available down there.
No I'd say it is an area you would reasonably expect to not be a HGV route
So sorry to read this - my heart goes out to all who live along the roads being affected. If this were happening in France, I don't doubt the locals would be out barricading the minor roads!
I feel like doing that when I'm kept awake half the night.
Buy some ear plugs, my wife can even sleep through my snoring with ear plugs. (serious comment).
Have tried that but it isn't just the noise it is the vibrations which shake the house.
I live on Willington Street and that has lorries during the night all the year ‘round. After a while you stop hearing them.
There is talk of a relief road but there was talk of that when I bought the house eleven years ago.
Maidstone desperately needs the relief road but I doubt it will be built, just more and more houses instead.
As I type this there is a continual procession of HGVs going past and it is so frustrating to know there is nothing you can do about it. We had a brief respite over the weekend which I suspect was due to the Leeds Castle Firework display.
Youve put me right off moving down that way
It depends where you're thinking of moving to, this is a nice area on the whole.
It would be an area id consider when deciding to move away. Am I right in thinking your renting your place . Did you not know what these roads were like before you moved in or is there not much available down there.
Yes we are renting and were well aware that the A20 is a busy road but we didn't expect the M20 to be completely closed night after night causing massive trucks to be diverted along here.
Having learned from difficulties with past properties, we had a long list of 'must have' for when we moved. This property ticked all the boxes apart from being on a main road. On a normal night it's actually quite quiet and noise isn't a problem.
At 4am today there was a continuous procession of huge trucks.
Tonight both the M20 and the M2 are closed westbound meaning ALL traffic coming from Europe has to travel along roads which are totally unsuitable. This is total lunacy, Highways England just couldn't get any worse with their planning.
Yes, their planning is very poor. One of the reasons for this, it seems to me, is that the roadworks planning is regionalised and the different regions do not seem to bother what others are getting up to. On top of this, the M25 and linked routes are treated as a separate region and Highways England have contracted out the responsibility for planning the maintenance programme to private firms.
One day last year I needed to get from deepest Essex to Gatwick for an early morning flight.
The Highways England map suggested that the overnight works included a large stretch of the Essex bit of the M25 being actually shut; the Dartford Crossing Bridge being shut with tunnels only available; the southbound Blackwall Tunnel shut; and the A12 shut and diverting through Brentwood. Needless to say I added a vast amount of spare time into my journey and planned to zoom down the A130 to the A13 and get across to the Dartford tunnel that way. Guess what? Unannounced works had shut the A130 too! I backtracked with a view to going round the M25 the long way and eventually found that neither the M25 or the Dartford Bridge actually had any works in progress!
In the course of complaining I found a pdf map giving all the different roadworks regions and contact phone numbers which seemed better (well, no, just more satisfying really) than dealing with the inept Highways England. If I've still got it, I'll post it up.
I still cannot work out why Highways England think its a great idea to build a new tunnel east of Gravesend when all that will end up doing is just to add to the congestion on the M2 and Bluebell Hill.
I pointed this out to them at the consultation we attended and they stated that they didn't think it would have an impact, their studies showed it would be negligible. Pity those that live around Bluebell hill when they eventually build the tunnel.
The best solution was to tunnel a 3 lane highway from somewhere around Junction 2 to just after Junction 31 and use the existing links for local traffic. Would actually cost less than their current proposals.
I still cannot work out why Highways England think its a great idea to build a new tunnel east of Gravesend when all that will end up doing is just to add to the congestion on the M2 and Bluebell Hill.
I pointed this out to them at the consultation we attended and they stated that they didn't think it would have an impact, their studies showed it would be negligible. Pity those that live around Bluebell hill when they eventually build the tunnel.
The best solution was to tunnel a 3 lane highway from somewhere around Junction 2 to just after Junction 31 and use the existing links for local traffic. Would actually cost less than their current proposals.
We recently moved to Bearsted, Maidstone to a property on the main A20. We knew that it was a busy road, but were not prepared for the M20 to be closed every night from Junctions 8 to 7, between 8pm and 6am.
Highways England suggest that traffic comes off the M20 at Ashford, follow the A251 to Faversham, then continue on the M2 towards London. This is a huge detour and takes the traffic through small villages. There re also major roadworks on the M2.
It is therefore no surprise to see that instead, drivers choose to come off at Junction 8 and then travel through residential areas of Maidstone before rejoining the M20 at Junction 7.
Cars and small vans are not a problem but the HGVs make the whole house shake as they thunder through. This continues all night and trying to sleep through it is very difficult.
As this is the main motorway from Folkestone and Dover to the rest of the country and the ports/Channel Tunnel continue working all night, there is a continuous flow of HGVs all night.
I have just looked at Highways England website and it seem this is to carry on until mid January and the thought of insufficient sleep until then is not a happy one.
I can't see why they can't do the work at night but leave a lane open so that huge lorries do not travel through roads not suitable for them. Complaints to Highways England go unanswered.
Can't see why they don't force all Lorries from Eurotunnel to take the a20 and then the a2. They're happy to do that on the a2, via unsuitable a roads. At least stopping all Lorries from Europe would alleviate some traffic.
Probably not what anyone wants to hear however I think TfL for all their faults and Highways England do an amazingly good job of keeping things running in ever changing circumstances. I'm talking about their reactive people here
When it comes to planning they are both clusterfucks, I don't think either are given any proper support from the government who are the exponents of subbing everything, including accountability, to contract. It's actually borderline criminal that people are looking to make the size profits they do from money generated from the great British public.
We recently moved to Bearsted, Maidstone to a property on the main A20. We knew that it was a busy road, but were not prepared for the M20 to be closed every night from Junctions 8 to 7, between 8pm and 6am.
Highways England suggest that traffic comes off the M20 at Ashford, follow the A251 to Faversham, then continue on the M2 towards London. This is a huge detour and takes the traffic through small villages. There re also major roadworks on the M2.
It is therefore no surprise to see that instead, drivers choose to come off at Junction 8 and then travel through residential areas of Maidstone before rejoining the M20 at Junction 7.
Cars and small vans are not a problem but the HGVs make the whole house shake as they thunder through. This continues all night and trying to sleep through it is very difficult.
As this is the main motorway from Folkestone and Dover to the rest of the country and the ports/Channel Tunnel continue working all night, there is a continuous flow of HGVs all night.
I have just looked at Highways England website and it seem this is to carry on until mid January and the thought of insufficient sleep until then is not a happy one.
I can't see why they can't do the work at night but leave a lane open so that huge lorries do not travel through roads not suitable for them. Complaints to Highways England go unanswered.
Hello, I reckon your quite near me, we live opposite The Rose. To be honest , the A20 can be a pain though we tend to live in the rooms at the back of our house so don't notice it too much. Not wishing to add to your gloom, are you aware of the planned development work around j8 ?. If that goes ahead, then stand by for years of disruption. Mrs HS is chair of the local village committee fighting this as much they can but Maidstone Council appear to be set of seeing this through.
As for living on Willington St, my sympathies. The mass development in Parkwood has led to huge numbers of cars going from there through to j7. The roads in this area cannot cope with this increased development.
The planning for schedule roadworks is atrocious. Travelling back from Kent to London one evening I had to come off the M20 as it was closed for roadworks at the Swanley interchange. I decided I would nip round the M25 to the A2 and come in that way expect they had also decided to close the exit sliproad off the M25 at the junction. Had to carry on towards the Dartford Bridge, come off at the last junction and work my way back along local roads. Fortunately I know the area at least a little bit but anyone not familiar with the area would be totally lost.
We recently moved to Bearsted, Maidstone to a property on the main A20. We knew that it was a busy road, but were not prepared for the M20 to be closed every night from Junctions 8 to 7, between 8pm and 6am.
Highways England suggest that traffic comes off the M20 at Ashford, follow the A251 to Faversham, then continue on the M2 towards London. This is a huge detour and takes the traffic through small villages. There re also major roadworks on the M2.
It is therefore no surprise to see that instead, drivers choose to come off at Junction 8 and then travel through residential areas of Maidstone before rejoining the M20 at Junction 7.
Cars and small vans are not a problem but the HGVs make the whole house shake as they thunder through. This continues all night and trying to sleep through it is very difficult.
As this is the main motorway from Folkestone and Dover to the rest of the country and the ports/Channel Tunnel continue working all night, there is a continuous flow of HGVs all night.
I have just looked at Highways England website and it seem this is to carry on until mid January and the thought of insufficient sleep until then is not a happy one.
I can't see why they can't do the work at night but leave a lane open so that huge lorries do not travel through roads not suitable for them. Complaints to Highways England go unanswered.
Hello, I reckon your quite near me, we live opposite The Rose. To be honest , the A20 can be a pain though we tend to live in the rooms at the back of our house so don't notice it too much. Not wishing to add to your gloom, are you aware of the planned development work around j8 ?. If that goes ahead, then stand by for years of disruption. Mrs HS is chair of the local village committee fighting this as much they can but Maidstone Council appear to be set of seeing this through.
As for living on Willington St, my sympathies. The mass development in Parkwood has led to huge numbers of cars going from there through to j7. The roads in this area cannot cope with this increased development.
Not far from you - I'm the other side of the petrol stations. Yes I am aware of the development plans for J 8 area - need some action like the protests against KIG though as you say if Maidstone BC want it to go ahead, it probably will.
Far too much development in this part of Kent, the infrastructure can't cope and as soon as there is a problem on one of the motorways, Maidstone and Medway grind to a halt.
We recently moved to Bearsted, Maidstone to a property on the main A20. We knew that it was a busy road, but were not prepared for the M20 to be closed every night from Junctions 8 to 7, between 8pm and 6am.
Highways England suggest that traffic comes off the M20 at Ashford, follow the A251 to Faversham, then continue on the M2 towards London. This is a huge detour and takes the traffic through small villages. There re also major roadworks on the M2.
It is therefore no surprise to see that instead, drivers choose to come off at Junction 8 and then travel through residential areas of Maidstone before rejoining the M20 at Junction 7.
Cars and small vans are not a problem but the HGVs make the whole house shake as they thunder through. This continues all night and trying to sleep through it is very difficult.
As this is the main motorway from Folkestone and Dover to the rest of the country and the ports/Channel Tunnel continue working all night, there is a continuous flow of HGVs all night.
I have just looked at Highways England website and it seem this is to carry on until mid January and the thought of insufficient sleep until then is not a happy one.
I can't see why they can't do the work at night but leave a lane open so that huge lorries do not travel through roads not suitable for them. Complaints to Highways England go unanswered.
Hello, I reckon your quite near me, we live opposite The Rose. To be honest , the A20 can be a pain though we tend to live in the rooms at the back of our house so don't notice it too much. Not wishing to add to your gloom, are you aware of the planned development work around j8 ?. If that goes ahead, then stand by for years of disruption. Mrs HS is chair of the local village committee fighting this as much they can but Maidstone Council appear to be set of seeing this through.
As for living on Willington St, my sympathies. The mass development in Parkwood has led to huge numbers of cars going from there through to j7. The roads in this area cannot cope with this increased development.
It has but, thankfully, I work from home and when I take my son to school I come out of my drive and turn straight right into School Lane so I only have to use a hundred yards of WIllington Street or so.
I would hate to have a proper job and have to drive through the traffic twice a day. I think I'd have to move if that was the case. Some days the queue to the A20 comes all the way up past my house to School Lane - and beyond.
We recently moved to Bearsted, Maidstone to a property on the main A20. We knew that it was a busy road, but were not prepared for the M20 to be closed every night from Junctions 8 to 7, between 8pm and 6am.
Highways England suggest that traffic comes off the M20 at Ashford, follow the A251 to Faversham, then continue on the M2 towards London. This is a huge detour and takes the traffic through small villages. There re also major roadworks on the M2.
It is therefore no surprise to see that instead, drivers choose to come off at Junction 8 and then travel through residential areas of Maidstone before rejoining the M20 at Junction 7.
Cars and small vans are not a problem but the HGVs make the whole house shake as they thunder through. This continues all night and trying to sleep through it is very difficult.
As this is the main motorway from Folkestone and Dover to the rest of the country and the ports/Channel Tunnel continue working all night, there is a continuous flow of HGVs all night.
I have just looked at Highways England website and it seem this is to carry on until mid January and the thought of insufficient sleep until then is not a happy one.
I can't see why they can't do the work at night but leave a lane open so that huge lorries do not travel through roads not suitable for them. Complaints to Highways England go unanswered.
Hello, I reckon your quite near me, we live opposite The Rose. To be honest , the A20 can be a pain though we tend to live in the rooms at the back of our house so don't notice it too much. Not wishing to add to your gloom, are you aware of the planned development work around j8 ?. If that goes ahead, then stand by for years of disruption. Mrs HS is chair of the local village committee fighting this as much they can but Maidstone Council appear to be set of seeing this through.
As for living on Willington St, my sympathies. The mass development in Parkwood has led to huge numbers of cars going from there through to j7. The roads in this area cannot cope with this increased development.
It has but, thankfully, I work from home and when I take my son to school I come out of my drive and turn straight right into School Lane so I only have to use a hundred yards of WIllington Street or so.
I would hate to have a proper job and have to drive through the traffic twice a day. I think I'd have to move if that was the case. Some days the queue to the A20 comes all the way up past my house to School Lane - and beyond.
If it wasn't for the fact you are not a West ham fan of swear you were someone I know purely from where you live and the fact you work from home
I totally agree by the way about ME14s point, in fairness I have been trying my hardest lately to see everything objectively and whilst the A20 is an A road it isn't really an A road of that makes sense? parts of it are but most of it really isn't
We recently moved to Bearsted, Maidstone to a property on the main A20. We knew that it was a busy road, but were not prepared for the M20 to be closed every night from Junctions 8 to 7, between 8pm and 6am.
Highways England suggest that traffic comes off the M20 at Ashford, follow the A251 to Faversham, then continue on the M2 towards London. This is a huge detour and takes the traffic through small villages. There re also major roadworks on the M2.
It is therefore no surprise to see that instead, drivers choose to come off at Junction 8 and then travel through residential areas of Maidstone before rejoining the M20 at Junction 7.
Cars and small vans are not a problem but the HGVs make the whole house shake as they thunder through. This continues all night and trying to sleep through it is very difficult.
As this is the main motorway from Folkestone and Dover to the rest of the country and the ports/Channel Tunnel continue working all night, there is a continuous flow of HGVs all night.
I have just looked at Highways England website and it seem this is to carry on until mid January and the thought of insufficient sleep until then is not a happy one.
I can't see why they can't do the work at night but leave a lane open so that huge lorries do not travel through roads not suitable for them. Complaints to Highways England go unanswered.
Hello, I reckon your quite near me, we live opposite The Rose. To be honest , the A20 can be a pain though we tend to live in the rooms at the back of our house so don't notice it too much. Not wishing to add to your gloom, are you aware of the planned development work around j8 ?. If that goes ahead, then stand by for years of disruption. Mrs HS is chair of the local village committee fighting this as much they can but Maidstone Council appear to be set of seeing this through.
As for living on Willington St, my sympathies. The mass development in Parkwood has led to huge numbers of cars going from there through to j7. The roads in this area cannot cope with this increased development.
It has but, thankfully, I work from home and when I take my son to school I come out of my drive and turn straight right into School Lane so I only have to use a hundred yards of WIllington Street or so.
I would hate to have a proper job and have to drive through the traffic twice a day. I think I'd have to move if that was the case. Some days the queue to the A20 comes all the way up past my house to School Lane - and beyond.
If it wasn't for the fact you are not a West ham fan of swear you were someone I know purely from where you live and the fact you work from home
I totally agree by the way about ME14s point, in fairness I have been trying my hardest lately to see everything objectively and whilst the A20 is an A road it isn't really an A road of that makes sense? parts of it are but most of it really isn't
Are you suggesting that I live close to West Ham fans? Busy roads I can tolerate but....
Last night the M2 was shut again from junction 4 to 6 meaning a detour to M20 and A20 to get to Faversham from Bexley.
M2 is closed again tonight. M20 open tonight but according to Highways England it's going to be closed from Maidstone to Ashford almost every night from 14th November until mid January. Perhaps a barricade by local people isn't such a bad idea to bring this ludicrous situation, which badly affects people's lives, to public attention.
I know contraflows aren't ideal but at least they keep motorway traffic away from residential areas.
I have today received a response from Highways England to my complaint about the M20 closures. This is the response I have received:
Thank you for submitting a Traffic England feedback form on 28 October 2017 regarding the closure of the M20 and the impact this has had on you and your community. This has been passed to A-one+; we work on behalf of Highways England and we are responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of this area.
I’m very sorry to hear of the issues you’ve experienced recently with an increase in traffic and noise in Bearsted whilst the M20 has been closed for maintenance. I can certainly appreciate the inconvenience and disruption that this must cause and I would like to apologise for this.
I’d like to let you know that our diversion route for London bound traffic is to leave the M20 at junction 9, take the A251, the M2 and the A249 before re-joining the M20 at junction 7. Coast bound traffic is directed to run this route in reverse. This diversion route was chosen in an attempt to discourage traffic from taking the A20 through residential areas on unsuitable roads, however, it would appear that some drivers are ignoring this and taking their own routes. Whilst we have no power to prevent them from doing this, I’d like to let you know that we’ve put additional signs on our network to better advise motorists of the preferred route. I hope that this action has a positive impact for you and other residents.
I note your comments about doing the work under lane closures as opposed to a full closure. As I’m sure you can appreciate, we have a duty to protect our workforce and the travelling public, doing this work under lane closures would potentially put workers and motorists at risk. Therefore, we made the decision to completely close the carriageway, rather than take any sort of undue risk.
We’re currently carrying out resurfacing work on the M20, which will deliver improved, safer journeys for motorists. Our work is due to be completed by 22 December 2017.
Thank you again for contacting us and for any other queries, please contact the Highways England Customer Contact Centre. They are available 24 hours a day by phone: 0300 123 5000 or by email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk. Alternatively, you can visit the Highways England website at www.highways.gov.uk.
I have contacted them to point out that their diversion takes traffic on a 20 mile detour along an equally unsuitable road (A251) and then onto the M2 which also has major roadworks and is closed most nights anyway, so it is hardly surprising that most, if not all, the traffic chooses to come off the M20 and use the residential roads of Maidstone instead.
I telephoned the department responsible and when I pointed out all of this, he agreed that they have got it badly wrong, but couldn't give me any hope that their decisions would be changed.
I asked why a contraflow could be used on the M2 but couldn't be used on the M20 and he couldn't give me a reason why. I pointed out that the safety of Maidstone residents is being put at risk by their decision to close the motorway completely every night.
Being in traffic management I can tell you it would be unsafe for the work force to have a contra flow on the M20, the permanent contra flow on the M2 has no real choice as they can’t permanently shut all lanes, due to the length and nature of the works.
Being in traffic management I can tell you it would be unsafe for the work force to have a contra flow on the M20, the permanent contra flow on the M2 has no real choice as they can’t permanently shut all lanes, due to the length and nature of the works.
So is it safe for all the traffic to come through a residential area then ?
Being in traffic management I can tell you it would be unsafe for the work force to have a contra flow on the M20, the permanent contra flow on the M2 has no real choice as they can’t permanently shut all lanes, due to the length and nature of the works.
So is it safe for all the traffic to come through a residential area then ?
between 12-5 am I would have thought so. I don't know hat time the M20 is shut, but if was between these hours then I would have thought it was a sensible policy. roadworks / road resurfacing needs to be done I'm afraid & its only for another 6 weeks.
I actually live in Borough Green so I'm not adverse to large lorries going past my house night & day
Being in traffic management I can tell you it would be unsafe for the work force to have a contra flow on the M20, the permanent contra flow on the M2 has no real choice as they can’t permanently shut all lanes, due to the length and nature of the works.
So is it safe for all the traffic to come through a residential area then ?
between 12-5 am I would have thought so. I don't know hat time the M20 is shut, but if was between these hours then I would have thought it was a sensible policy. roadworks / road resurfacing needs to be done I'm afraid & its only for another 6 weeks.
I actually live in Borough Green so I'm not adverse to large lorries going past my house night & day
But we aren't talking about just a few lorries as there is a continuous procession from 8pm to 6am. You only have to think back to how quickly the queues of lorries built up when Operation Stack was utilised to see just how many lorries use the M20. Trying to sleep through the constant noise and vibration is not something that is easy. Residential roads are totally unsuitable for HGVs.
A warning for anyone travelling through Kent this week. I've looked at Highways England website and there are too many lane closures to mention here, but most notable is the complete closure of the M20 eastbound from Junctions 7 to 10 (Maidstone to Ashford) from 13th November to 19 November between 8pm and 6am.
I can't find the recommended diversion but would suspect that traffic would leave the M20 at Junction 7 and travel on to the M2 at Junction 5. This wouldn't be so bad if there weren't roadworks on the M2, but there are. I don't swear but if I did I could think of many words to describe the idiots at Highways England.
Another run of sleepless nights as most HGVs will be coming through residential areas again.
Comments
Having learned from difficulties with past properties, we had a long list of 'must have' for when we moved. This property ticked all the boxes apart from being on a main road. On a normal night it's actually quite quiet and noise isn't a problem.
At 4am today there was a continuous procession of huge trucks.
One day last year I needed to get from deepest Essex to Gatwick for an early morning flight.
The Highways England map suggested that the overnight works included a large stretch of the Essex bit of the M25 being actually shut; the Dartford Crossing Bridge being shut with tunnels only available; the southbound Blackwall Tunnel shut;
and the A12 shut and diverting through Brentwood. Needless to say I added a vast amount of spare time into my journey and planned to zoom down the A130 to the A13 and get across to the Dartford tunnel that way. Guess what? Unannounced works had shut the A130 too! I backtracked with a view to going round the M25 the long way and eventually found that neither the M25 or the Dartford Bridge actually had any works in progress!
In the course of complaining I found a pdf map giving all the different roadworks regions and contact phone numbers which seemed better (well, no, just more satisfying really) than dealing with the inept Highways England. If I've still got it, I'll post it up.
I pointed this out to them at the consultation we attended and they stated that they didn't think it would have an impact, their studies showed it would be negligible. Pity those that live around Bluebell hill when they eventually build the tunnel.
The best solution was to tunnel a 3 lane highway from somewhere around Junction 2 to just after Junction 31 and use the existing links for local traffic. Would actually cost less than their current proposals.
When it comes to planning they are both clusterfucks, I don't think either are given any proper support from the government who are the exponents of subbing everything, including accountability, to contract. It's actually borderline criminal that people are looking to make the size profits they do from money generated from the great British public.
As for living on Willington St, my sympathies. The mass development in Parkwood has led to huge numbers of cars going from there through to j7. The roads in this area cannot cope with this increased development.
Far too much development in this part of Kent, the infrastructure can't cope and as soon as there is a problem on one of the motorways, Maidstone and Medway grind to a halt.
I would hate to have a proper job and have to drive through the traffic twice a day. I think I'd have to move if that was the case. Some days the queue to the A20 comes all the way up past my house to School Lane - and beyond.
I totally agree by the way about ME14s point, in fairness I have been trying my hardest lately to see everything objectively and whilst the A20 is an A road it isn't really an A road of that makes sense? parts of it are but most of it really isn't
I know contraflows aren't ideal but at least they keep motorway traffic away from residential areas.
Thank you for submitting a Traffic England feedback form on 28 October 2017 regarding the closure of the M20 and the impact this has had on you and your community. This has been passed to A-one+; we work on behalf of Highways England and we are responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of this area.
I’m very sorry to hear of the issues you’ve experienced recently with an increase in traffic and noise in Bearsted whilst the M20 has been closed for maintenance. I can certainly appreciate the inconvenience and disruption that this must cause and I would like to apologise for this.
I’d like to let you know that our diversion route for London bound traffic is to leave the M20 at junction 9, take the A251, the M2 and the A249 before re-joining the M20 at junction 7. Coast bound traffic is directed to run this route in reverse. This diversion route was chosen in an attempt to discourage traffic from taking the A20 through residential areas on unsuitable roads, however, it would appear that some drivers are ignoring this and taking their own routes. Whilst we have no power to prevent them from doing this, I’d like to let you know that we’ve put additional signs on our network to better advise motorists of the preferred route. I hope that this action has a positive impact for you and other residents.
I note your comments about doing the work under lane closures as opposed to a full closure. As I’m sure you can appreciate, we have a duty to protect our workforce and the travelling public, doing this work under lane closures would potentially put workers and motorists at risk. Therefore, we made the decision to completely close the carriageway, rather than take any sort of undue risk.
We’re currently carrying out resurfacing work on the M20, which will deliver improved, safer journeys for motorists. Our work is due to be completed by 22 December 2017.
Thank you again for contacting us and for any other queries, please contact the Highways England Customer Contact Centre. They are available 24 hours a day by phone: 0300 123 5000 or by email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk. Alternatively, you can visit the Highways England website at www.highways.gov.uk.
I have contacted them to point out that their diversion takes traffic on a 20 mile detour along an equally unsuitable road (A251) and then onto the M2 which also has major roadworks and is closed most nights anyway, so it is hardly surprising that most, if not all, the traffic chooses to come off the M20 and use the residential roads of Maidstone instead.
I telephoned the department responsible and when I pointed out all of this, he agreed that they have got it badly wrong, but couldn't give me any hope that their decisions would be changed.
I asked why a contraflow could be used on the M2 but couldn't be used on the M20 and he couldn't give me a reason why. I pointed out that the safety of Maidstone residents is being put at risk by their decision to close the motorway completely every night.
I actually live in Borough Green so I'm not adverse to large lorries going past my house night & day
I can't find the recommended diversion but would suspect that traffic would leave the M20 at Junction 7 and travel on to the M2 at Junction 5. This wouldn't be so bad if there weren't roadworks on the M2, but there are. I don't swear but if I did I could think of many words to describe the idiots at Highways England.
Another run of sleepless nights as most HGVs will be coming through residential areas again.