Maidstone CycleFest 2021

Kent County Council has welcomed news that government is investing £70 million to help restart local economies and make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

KCC has been allocated just over £8 million by the Department for Transport (DfT) to invest in walking and cycling and to embed new behaviours whilst promoting the positive effects of safe and sustainable active travel.

The first round of funding, however, will be £1.6 million with the remainder subject to agreement if spent within eight weeks.

In addition to this, plans are being worked on to introduce further 20mph zones, including trials in Faversham and Tonbridge.

Since lockdown on March 23, Kent Highways has recorded a 300% increase in the number of people cycling and a recent survey of people across the county found 63% supported the idea of more cycle lanes.

Michael Payne meeting with Chris Heaton-Harris, the Cycling Minister, earlier this year.

Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Michael Payne said: “I very much welcome this funding and we can now get started on planning some short, medium, and longer-term schemes for those walking and cycling.

“I hope this will encourage more people to walk and cycle as the health benefits speak for themselves. This investment will allow our active travel options to be enhanced and improved so that these journeys remain safe and sustainable.

“We will be looking into the possibility of reallocating road space for walking and cycling, encouraging people to take part in active travel, for instance going to school, and reducing speed limits where appropriate.

“I very much hope that the number of people cycling and walking increases as there are a wealth of benefits to our communities if people are more active – lower traffic levels, reduced congestion, less road noise and improved air quality.

“But to make these changes long lasting we need to work together, and this can only be achieved with local support.”

Mr Payne added: “I want to develop ideas and improvements that not only give some quick wins, but to also learn and experiment so that we can lock-in the longer-term benefits from a programme of improvements across the county.

“I appreciate there will be lots of groups that will want to be involved. But right now we are assessing the opportunities this funding brings so that we can invest in the right places at the right time, whilst also responding to the key worker and urgent needs that we face in the current pandemic to quickly provide safe walking and cycling infrastructure.

“Welcome though this funding is we all need to realise that it will not be possible to accommodate every idea immediately. That is why some of the schemes that are chosen are likely to be experimental in the first instance.”

KCC anticipates more people will be travelling to work and to school by bike or on foot.

Working with colleagues in the local districts and boroughs, KCC is arranging to implement temporary signs that reinforce the social distancing message.

As part of the DfT Access Fund programme, KCC has worked alongside Cycle Community CIC based in Ashford supplying 50 refurbished bikes to key NHS staff.

The bikes have been supplied with safety equipment including helmets, locks, lights and hi-vis vests.

KCC will be looking to:

• Trial ‘pop-up’ cycle facilities with a minimum level of physical separation from volume traffic and also widen some existing cycle lanes to enable cyclists to maintain distancing.
• Use cones and barriers to widen some footways particularly outside shops and transport hubs.
• Encouraging walking and cycling to school.
• Reduce speed limits: trial 20mph speed limits where appropriate and locally supported.
• Introduce pedestrian and cycle zones, with the possible introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods and maybe modal filters.
• Provide additional cycle parking facilities at key locations, such as outside stations and in high streets, to accommodate an increase in cycling.
• Change junction designs to accommodate more cyclists – for example, extending Advanced Stop Lines at traffic lights.
• ‘Whole-route’ approaches to create corridors for buses, cycles and access only on key routes into town and city centres.
• Identify and bring forward permanent schemes already planned, for example under Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans that can be constructed relatively quickly.

The top risks that COVID is putting on road safety are:

• Poor driver behaviour, particularly incidences of speeding in areas where there are lower traffic levels
• Mental health impacts on levels of distraction, anxiety and tolerance
• Driver fatigue – where people haven’t been used to driving as much during lockdown.

When passing a person cycling, give plenty of room – a minimum of 1.5m – and don’t pass too quickly. It can be frightening to a rider if they are passed at high speed.

Fewer people have been on our roads since lockdown began and traffic levels have been at about 60% of what they normally would be. However, with government encouraging schools to go back, traffic levels will increase.

What’s more, children will now be walking or cycling to school alongside other parents driving their children, and general traffic will be thrown into the mix – drivers need to slow down, be patient and stay alert to other road users.

Some drivers will be re-adjusting to driving, having not driven for a long time, or the skills involved may be rusty when it comes to pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers on our roads.

We want everyone to share our roads safely because one mistake or a moment’s inattention can have tragic consequences, and human error is a factor in 95% of crashes.

KCC Media Hub

Active Travel Fund Schemes KCC

Measures to encourage residents safely get on their bikes are being welcomed by Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum.

The Government has given Kent County Council £8m to spend on quick to deliver new cycle and walking schemes across the County.

In Maidstone Town Centre, two schemes are proposed, a  pedestrianisation of Earl Street between Pudding Lane and Week Street and to implement two pop up cycle lanes along each side of King Street. The King Street scheme will link a cycle route from the town centre to Maidstone East Station and the Medway Towpath in one direction and Mote Park and routes to Downswood and Bearsted in the other direction.

Both schemes are due to be operational from mid-September 2020.

Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum is supportive of both schemes and is willing to work with both Maidstone Borough Council and Kent County Council to ensure that the schemes are of the highest order and are exemplars of best practice and show the way forward in promoting cycling and walking.

We have also been informed by sources in both Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council, that as part of Phase 2 there is a plan to install a cycle path along the A20 from Lenham to Maidstone (Willington Street) which via Mote Park will link to the new King Street Cycle Lanes.

Paul Harper, Chair of Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum said “we welcome these proposals, we expect Kent County Council will design and deliver them to the best exemplar standards of best practice. However next week our schools go back, and typically 60/70% of secondary school pupils travel by bus, however the indications are that only 5/10% will go by bus and around 90% will be driven increasing car journeys across Maidstone Borough by up to 20/30,000 car journeys twice a day. Urgent attention in needed to provide

support for pupils to walk and cycle to school and college. In the longer term Maidstone Borough needs a comprehensive investment in walking routes and also a cycling infrastructure where people can cycle on dedicated cycle paths around and across town.”

Duncan Edwards, Vice Chair of Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum said “the early part of lockdown in April 2020 showed the desire and willingness of people of all generations and backgrounds to get on their bicycles, it demonstrated that when you can cycle away from busy and congested roads, people will cycle. There was an acknowledged 300% increase in cycling across Maidstone and Kent. Now the traffic is back the bikes are going back into storage. We need to get a decent infrastructure as in other towns in the UK and also Denmark and the Netherlands, to get people on their bikes for the long term.”

Paul Harper said “during lockdown when people took to their bikes and walking leather air quality across our town was the best it’s been for decades, you could feel the freshness, we need to get that back and reduce our dependency on the car again.

Duncan Edwards said “As part of our plan we call on Kent County Council to repair the Medway Towpath/Cycle Route at Aylesford, which has been closed since the February 2020 River Medway Floods., also we are continuing to campaign to improve the heavily polluted Medway Bridges Gyratory and to enable safe cycling and we and Sustrans have submitted plans to KCC for urgent funding. 

Download on our files page

Government boost for Cycling and Walking falls at the Medway Towpath - PRESS RELEASE - Letter to the Editor

During lockdown the number of cyclists and walkers in Maidstone as in the rest of the UK went up incredibly. It demonstrated that families and cyclists of all generations and confidence will take to their bicycles if safe road conditions are available.

As the Chair of the Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum and a Fant Councillor, I welcome the Governments support for getting in safe infrastructure for cycling in a number of exemplar schemes across the Country. In Maidstone we are promised cycle lanes along King Street for mid-September 2020 and even a segregated cycle lane from Willington Street to Lenham alongside the A20 during the winter of 2020/21.

All positive and hopefully the start of addressing an integrated package of cycling and walking measures across Maidstone Town and Borough. Unfortunately however all is not rosy the Medway Towpath/ Cycleway was damaged in the February 2020 floods near Aylesford where it was partially undermined. It has since been closed off and now the closure stretch has been extended back along the timber walkway.

Everyone expected that it would be repaired as an urgent priority, alongside all the extra road works undertaken in lockdown, but NO the current site notice states that repair works will not be completed until Summer 2021 a year away. That will be a closure of a 1 ½ years. This is utterly disgraceful and a public scandal.

Since this route opened from Barming Bridge to Aylesford Bridge in 2015, it has become extremely popular with cyclists and pedestrians of all ages and levels of fitness and is now a major cycling route for people to get to the town centre and the Aylesford industrial estates.

It would easily have been possibly over the spring to put in some temporary timber decking to bridge the damaged area, which would have allowed walkers and cyclists to use the route while longer term repairs were done, but no close it off, forget it and hope it goes away seems to be the approach.

The Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum (MCCF) has raised this issue with the County Council, but to no avail, they clearly do not seem to be interested in prioritising walking and cycling in Kent, despite being happy to take Government money. If this had been the A20 or any main road into or out of Maidstone or the M20, it would have been repaired within hours or days. Because it is used by cyclist and pedestrians it is the bottom of the pile. At a time when KCC is looking to pedestrianise Earl Street and put in cycle lanes on King Street, its lack of support to maintain the best used and valued piece of cycling infrastructure in the Maidstone/ Aylesford area is incredulous.

The towpath is much loved by residents of Barming, East Farleigh, Maidstone and Aylesford, we deserve better and I and the Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum will make sure that this issue is taken seriously on behalf of all those who use and love the towpath.

If KCC is serious, like the Government is about active travel and encouraging cycling, repairing the Medway Towpath should be its top not bottom priority. Concerned cyclists can contact us at maidstonecycling.uk.

Paul Harper

Chair of Maidstone Cycle Campaign Forum

Download on our files page

   The 5 Year Plan is the flagship strategy for Kent County Council. It unites the Council with clear outcomes and objectives. It has been brought together by working with and listening to our residents, young people, local businesses, the voluntary and community sector and staff. We’ve reflected what we heard during our engagement process in this draft consultation document. KCC are keen to hear from you as we further develop this draft during formal consultation.

The Consultation ran from 6th January to 17th February 2020.    Read our response

 Download on our files page 

For more information please visit the KCC website www.kent.gov.uk/5year

The  result promised for March is still awaited.

• 20mph Public Health Scheme
• Church Road, Otham - Planning Applications - Outline and Full for up to 440 residential dwellings
• Kent County Council Consultation - Keep Maidstone Moving
• A249 – Bearsted Road Improvement Scheme
• 3 Storey Secondary School – New Cut – Maidstone
• Kent County Council Consultations A20 Harrietsham Highway Improvements Scheme
• Erection of a new two-storey primary school and special educational needs secondary school
• DoT Call for 'Evidence on Cycling and Walking Safety'
• DoT  M2 Junction 5 Consultation
• A20 London Road Junction Improvement
• Kent County Council Strategic 5 year Plan
• Keep Maidstone Moving
• A229 Blue Bell Hill Junction Improvement Scheme - Walking, Cycling and Horse-Riding Review 
• The Roads policing review 
• The Department of Transport consultation on changes to the Highway Code improving safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders
• Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, in The Borough of Maidstone - to reduce the 40mph speed limit and to extend the 30mph speed limit.

Further details of these are on our Consultations page and our full responses downloadable on our Files page