A25 Brasted Village Footway and Village Gateway To: Sevenoaks District Council Joint Transportation Board By: Head of Transportation – Tim Read Classification: For Information Summary: This report is provided at the request of the Joint Transportation Board Chairman, Councillor James London. 1. Brasted Parish Council has requested that a new footway be provided on the southern side of the A25 western end of the village. In addition to this, improvements to the village gateway / entry point that combines with the change in speed limit terminal signs are also requested. It is unclear where the demand for the new footway has come from, or what the probable use may be. 2. The A25 at Brasted forms part of the important east/west route from Wrotham Heath towards Guildford. It takes in several historic villages in Sevenoaks such as Seal, Riverhead, Sundridge, Brasted and Westerham before leaving Kent for Surrey. The road experiences high levels of traffic particularly when there are delays and incidents on the nearby motorway network. The historic surroundings make for a busy and narrow “A” class road with some narrow sections of footway. 3. From a point just after Brasted Surgery the footway narrows significantly near Haynes Cottages. From this point there is no footway, although there is a short length of grass verge outside Hill Tree House, after this there is no footway on this side until Westerham. The north side of the A25 is provided with continuous footway for the majority of its length within Sevenoaks. 4. It is not possible, and there are no viable, affordable solutions to permit the provision of a new footway and the main reasons are listed below: • Buildings directly abutting the edge of the highway, • Steeply banked verges, • Land not under the control of the highway authority, • Mature trees and shrubs close to the edge of the highway, • Lack of secured funding. 5. Improvements to the village gateways and speed limit terminal signs could be considered within the narrow confines of the exiting highway if suitable funding can be secured. As the signage currently conforms to Department for Transport standards funding will not be prioritised for this location. Recommendation: Kent County Council Highways, Transportation & Waste request that the Board note and endorse this information report. Contact Officers; Julian Cook – District Manager for Sevenoaks 03000 41 81 81 Steven Noad – Traffic Engineer 03000 41 8 181 .