Yesterday I questioned the Transport Secretary on the Government’s plans to invest in Brenley Corner to ease congestion and reduce accidents.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling responded to my question in the House of Commons. He said that the Department for Transport is “looking very carefully” at the problem and is “seized of the need” to find a solution.
My question comes off the back of the report recently published by Highways England which placed Brenley Corner in the top 50 casualty locations nationally, as well as a major cause for congestion in Kent. I am glad to see that Highways England recognises that Brenley Corner is a problem. That's a crucial step towards getting Government funding for improvements.
I have previously lobbied the Chancellor and the Roads Minister for investment in Brenley Corner, making the case that it is a pinchpoint in the strategic M2-A2 route so worthy of central Government funding as well as a blight for local drivers. It feels like the message is getting through.
The consequence of the poor junction design at Brenley Corner is not just delays for long-distance traffic passing along the trunk route but hours spent in traffic jams – day after day - for local drivers.
In a recent meeting with Stagecoach to discuss late-running school buses, traffic at Brenley Corner came up as the most common cause.
While the planned extra lane on the A2 should help ease the traffic, that’s not going to solve the problem.
The next round of major investment in England’s roads is due to be in the Government’s Road Investment Strategy for 2020. I want to make sure that there is funding to improve Brenley Corner in that plan – if not before.
You can watch a video of the question here: http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/b8247994-d4e1-4f87-9005-2299b1d1801e?in=10:24:40&out=10:25:20
I asked: “The recently published Kent Corridor to M25 Route Strategy identifies Brenley Corner in my constituency as a congestion and accident hot spot.
“Can my right honourable friend confirm that his department is considering significant investment in this junction?”
Secretary Grayling replied: “We’re just in the process of digesting the route strategies provided by Highways England. They set a blueprint for the projects we’re going to need to deliver in the future to ease those points of congestion.
“I can’t at this early stage give a commitment from the Government to individual projects, but what I would say to my honourable friend is that we are looking very carefully at that study and others, and we are seized of the need to make sure we address problems like the one she talks about.”
