Deringwood Drive/Willington St Traffic Lights Update

The PC has been in contact with KC Highways to address questions that we have been asked to clarify following the installation of the above.

The detailed response from Highways is below:

Thank you for the further email regarding the traffic signals at Willington Street / Deringwood Drive. I can confirm that there are no faults with the junction operation, and the filter light is appearing when demanded, as the site is being monitored from the Traffic Operations Centre in Aylesford.

For clarity, let me summarise how the junction operates, including the right turn arrow.

Stage 1 :

• Full green signal for vehicles on Willington Street towards Park Wood (ahead and left into Downswood)
• Full green signal for vehicles on Willington Street towards A20 (ahead and right into Downswood during gaps in the opposing traffic flow)
• Red signal for all vehicles leaving Deringwood Drive
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Deringwood Drive exit crossing only.

Stage 2 :

• Red signal for all vehicles on Willington Street towards Park Wood
• Full green signal for vehicles on Willington Street towards A20 and Right turn arrow for vehicles into Downswood (if demanded by the detector in the dedicated right turn lane)
• Red signal for all vehicles leaving Deringwood Drive
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Deringwood Drive exit crossing only.
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Willington Street southbound crossing (Downswood side only).

Stage 3 :

• Red signal for all vehicles on Willington Street towards Park Wood
• Red signal for all vehicles on Willington Street towards A20
• Full green signal for vehicles leaving Deringwood Drive (left and right onto Willington Street)
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Deringwood Drive entry crossing only.
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Willington Street crossing (Downswood side only).

Stage 4 :

• Full green signal for vehicles on Willington Street towards Park Wood (ahead and left into Downswood)
• Red signal for all vehicles on Willington Street towards A20
• Red signal for all vehicles leaving Deringwood Drive
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Deringwood Drive exit crossing only.
• Green symbol for pedestrians at the Willington Street crossing (Mote Park side only).

To be clear, the dedicated right turn arrow will only appear if there are vehicles waiting on the detector in the carriageway, which is just beyond the stop line. It will not appear every time there is right turning traffic, as this is expected to clear the junction before any conflicting movements receive a green light. I can understand that if drivers do not leave the centre of the junction after moving beyond the stop line, this will block the Downswood exit which is solely due to poor driver behaviour and difficult to address. Certainly, the arrangement and configuration here is not uncommon at junctions in Kent and any modifications to eliminate unwanted behaviours will result in increased delays for all road users to allow extra clearance periods.

I am awaiting feedback from a Stage 3 Safety Audit of the junction, being undertaken by independent reviewers, which will highlight any concerns and suggested remedial actions. In the meantime, can I ask that any near misses are reported directly to Kent Police, as they remain the enforcement authority for the highway network.