“Kent County Council has approved the closure of the level crossings at St Dunstan’s Street and at St Stephen’s Road in Canterbury, and at Sturry Hill in Sturry, all day on Sunday 4 June.
While permission would not usually be given for these three crossings to be closed simultaneously, there are exceptional reasons for granting this request from Network Rail for this one day:
(1) The closure of St Dunstan’s Street Crossing is required to permit delivery of the final stage of phase 1 of the Journey Time Improvement scheme. The closure will enable Network Rail to deliver machinery and other technical equipment to enable them to complete work on the section of railway line between Canterbury West and Chartham, and St Dunstan’s Street Crossing is the only viable access point from which this work can be delivered.
(2) The closure of St Stephen’s Road Crossing is required to enable Network Rail to complete the urgent work, which started earlier this year, to repair the damaged road surface at the crossing. This requires specialised equipment that has been booked for use on this date, and any deferral would result in significant delay to this work being delivered.
(3) The closure of Sturry Hill Crossing next to Sturry Station is required to allow Network Rail to undertake scheduled maintenance work at this crossing.
Kent County Council apologises for any inconvenience caused by the longer diversionary routes in operation on Sunday 4 June, but accepts that access is required by Network Rail at these crossings on this date for urgent work to be undertaken.
It is also preferable to have all the engineering work required at these crossings to be undertaken on one day when the railway line is shut between Ashford International and Ramsgate via Canterbury West, rather than to spread this essential maintenance work over several days requiring separate line closures.
If you wish to raise the matter further, please write to:
Mr Roger Wilkin
Director of Highways, Transportation & Waste
Kent County Council
Invicta House
MAIDSTONE
Kent ME14 1XX”
