Consultation launched for £60m relief road in North Thanet

12th May 2023 Katie Owen 265 Views Kent, Kent council, Kent county council, Margate, North thanet, Road Safety, Thanet, thanet council, westgate, westgate on sea

Plans for a relief road in North Thanet, which could cost £60 million, have reached the public consultation phase.

Kent County Council opened a consultation with the public to talk about the plans of the new North Thanet link highway scheme.

The public consultation opened on May 11 and will remain open until May 14.

The North Thanet link highway scheme aims to support the A28 highway by having a combination of improvements including, new road links, junction improvements, new walking facilities and new cycling facilities along side widening the road.

KCC has said that once the plans have been given permission, the road works will cost £60 million. KCC officers are looking to gain a grant from the Department for Transport (DFT).

According to KCC’s consultation document the North Thanet Link will be a relief road and will provide another route for travellers to use.

It says: “Due to the historic layout and space constraints, particularly through Birchington Square, there is limited opportunity to improve road capacity along the existing A28.

“Therefore, an alternative highway route has been identified to improve journey time reliability, network resilience and road safety.”

Today we launch a consultation asking for views on the North Thanet Link highway improvement scheme, which seeks to improve journeys through new road links, road widening, junction improvements and walking and cycling facilities. Find out more at https://t.co/kpsg9Ajz9L pic.twitter.com/DGnBK9I7lh

— Kent County Council (@Kent_cc) May 11, 2023

It will be located to the south of the A28 Canterbury road, between Birchington, Westgate-On-Sea and Margate.

The council has organised two drop-in events where you can find out more about the scheme.

Westgate-on-sea Town Council will host their drop-in on May 15 and The centre in Birchington will host their drop-in on June 1.

Thanet residents can have their say through KCC’s questionnaire which is available on their website.

Feature image: via Google maps