A new bridleway bridge allowing a safe way of crossing the A2 near Canterbury is to be built from November and ready for use by next February 2010.
The Ramblers advised the Highways Agency and local authorities over plans.
Work on the new bridge at Kingston, halfway between Black Robin Lane and Out Elmstead Lane, starts on 2 November. The crossing will provide a safe place for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users to get over the A2. Currently, the only crossing point nearby is through gaps in the central reservation.
For the safety of road users and road workers, there will be a 24-hour single lane closure and temporary 50mph speed limit in both directions for the duration of the work for foundations for the bridge to be put in place.
For the installation of the bridge itself, there will be up to three Saturday night closures of the A2 from the junction with Coldharbour Lane to the junction with the A260 Canterbury Road.
Bala Vishnubala, Highways Agency Structures Manager, said:
“The Highways Agency is providing the bridge for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users as part of its commitment to invest in improved services. A tried and tested arched steel and timber construction technique will be used which has the dual benefits of being both quick and economic to install. This will keep disruption to road users to a minimum during the work.
“We will inform road users and residents of the three Saturday night closures nearer the time."
Eugene Suggett, Senior Policy Officer at the Ramblers, comments: "Busy, and especially multi-laned, roads and by-passes can sever communities and “moat” them from their immediate neighbourhood.
"The Highways Agency should be congratulated on providing all types of non-motorised users with this safe linkage of footpaths and bridleways and with access at Kingston to other villages and the North Downs beyond. Walking and cycling for recreation and health have never been more important than nowadays, but new or widened roads render local paths useless unless properly designed."
