APPENDIX: TRAFFIC & PARKING
WE MENTIONED IN AN EARLIER SECTION that Westerham's shopping area has already contracted very considerably, with little retail activity west of the Croydon Road.
We must at least hold the line at that point if the town is to continue to thrive. That means learning to manage the motor car. And that, in a perfect world, means keeping out the vehicles we don't want, and welcoming in the vehicles we do.
The Air Quality Review and Assessment published in March 1999 by Sevenoaks District Council records traffic flows of 125,000 vehicles a day on the M25 between Junctions 5 (Sevenoaks) and 6 (God-stone), and 25,500 a day at Westerham Rd/Worships Hill, Sevenoaks.
The Review goes on to predict that in five years from now those flows will have grown to 160,000 and 32,200 respectively - an increase of 28% on the M25 and 26% on the A25.
The A25 is already the relief road for the M25, as we see all too clearly when a motorway holdup occurs; a hiccup on the motorway equals a thrombosis in the town. So if the District Council's predictions are even halfway correct, Westerham must surely be in line for total cardiac arrest.
This prospect, together with the continuing threat to safety, health and the environment posed by today's ever-heavier lorries, provides a strong argument for bypass surgery. A way must be found to divert through traffic round the town, and make room for the cars of those who actually want to drive into it - for shopping, for refreshment, for tourism. ......>
