Crash on Teasaucer Hill in Loose Valley ‘proves need for traffic calming’
A crash on a country lane is being cited by traffic campaigners as proof of the need for traffic-calming measures. The route through the Loose Valley Conservation Area has many blind bends and narrow sections but is used as a rat run connecting the A229 Loose Road with Tovil near Maidstone.[1]
People living in the area say traffic often travels too fast for the surroundings, putting pedestrians, horse-riders and wildlife at risk. There are no pavements below Cripple Street.
There is a stable yard at the bottom of Teasaucer Hill. Further down the road, there are a series of redundant millponds, now home to geese and ducks. On Thursday (June 18) afternoon, two cars crashed head-on in Teasaucer Hill.
Hayle Mill Road resident Dave Carter said: "I was sitting in my garden, when a heard a car go past quite fast. Then there was the sound of a horn followed by an enormous bang.
"I and other neighbours went out to see what had happened. The occupants of both cars were arguing over whose fault it was.
Fortunately no-one seemed seriously hurt, but they had totally blocked the road." Mr Carter and his partner Christine Brown stood at the foot of the hill and directed traffic away from the crash until police arrived about 30 minutes later.
Mr Carter said: "After that, two ambulances came along and then eventually a large recovery vehicle, which had to reverse up Teasaucer Hill to reach the crash scene. It took him about an hour.
"The road was not properly reopened until around 7pm." Mr Carter said residents' parked cars in Hayle Mill Road were constantly being damaged by passing traffic.
He said: "My van was smashed into so many times, I eventually had to write it off. "My neighbour's Land Rover Discovery has also been hit several times."
Tom Bartlett is the chairman of Taming Tovil Traffic[2], a collection of residents who have been working together on a voluntary basis to devise a scheme for traffic-calming measures for the area. He said: "This historic road is not safe or suitable for the traffic that now uses it and yesterday's crash is stark evidence of the problem. "Near-misses are a daily occurrence.
"In November a truck drove off the road to avoid a collision.
"Continually increasing vehicle sizes and an increasing population mean that this problem is only going to get worse until KCC takes action.
"So far our requests have fallen on deaf ears, but we will continue to engage with local residents to formulate the best solutions." The group is planning to survey residents in the valley shortly with a series of options, asking which measures they would want to see adopted. Mrs Brown said there was an urgent need for action.
She said: "It's often like the M25 out here."
A police spokesman said: "We were called at 4.20pm on Thursday to a two-vehicle collision on Teasaucer Hill.
"Officers attended the scene alongside paramedics where minor injuries were reported."
Teasaucer Hill is subject to a 30mph limit.
References
- ^ Maidstone. (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ the chairman of Taming Tovil Traffic (kentonline.co.uk)