Walmer Design Statement - Dover District Council

9 Traffic and Transporton The Strand by the building of protruding crossing points, while providingwelcome assistance for pedestrians crossing the road, has reduced the availableparking in this commercial area and adversely affected businesses. Traffic controlmeasures have also been introduced on Salisbury Road – unfortunately thesemeasures have diverted traffic onto other congested routes and into two very busyintersections with Dover Road.Congestion due to loading, The StrandGreen parking, Dorset GardensPublic consultation on the introduction of such traffic calming and controlmeasures has been minimal in the past. This Design Statement urges that localresidents are given the opportunity to comment on any future such proposalsbefore they are implemented to ensure that adequate attention is paid to localconcerns, traffic patterns and problem areas.Pavement parking, Canada RoadCongestion on Mayers RoadCongestion and parking problems exist in the older areas of Walmer where streetsare narrow and there are no garage facilities. The limited number of exits from theredeveloped military sites has increased congestion by channelling all traffic ontoCanada Road which is already busy. Therefore, this Design Statement welcomesthe requirement for a traffic impact assessment to be carried out for any proposedredevelopment of the North Barracks, as set out in Policy AS3 of the DoverDistrict Local Plan (2002).Traffic can greatly affect the quality of life in a community and planning decisionsaffect traffic. Residents of Walmer want a free but safe flow of traffic, safecrossings of major intersections for pedestrians and cyclists, adequate parkingfacilities in commercial areas to help the survival of local businesses and safe andattractive cycleway and public footpath provision.Dover Road and Kingsdown Road, both feeding into The Strand, are the onlymajor north-south roads through the parish. Dover Road and The Strand link thetowns of Dover and Deal, and Dover Road is the arterial road with which all themajor east – west feeder roads link. These feeder roads funnel all the traffic fromWalmer and Deal onto Dover Road with the result that intersections on DoverRoad and The Strand are difficult to negotiate and dangerous. Traffic controlmeasures have been introduced on both these roads. The creation of parking bays32There are limited public transport services serving the parish of Walmer. The parishhas a railway station in Upper Walmer with, on average, hourly services. Limitedparking facilities are available at the station and in the interests of sustainability andencouraging increased train use it is hoped that opportunities to increase andimprove such station parking will be taken. Rail connections are however slowgiven the circuitous rail network linking Walmer with the rest of the county. It ishoped that current improvements under way on the rail tunnels between Dover andFolkestone will enable Walmer to partake in the new high-speed rail connectionssoon to be made available elsewhere in the county.Bus services cover only limited parts of the parish and make travel within Walmerand to Deal difficult. There are also limited bus services connecting Walmer toother areas of southeast Kent where essential services are provided. Theselimitations give rise to concern within the community.