Hart Street and Barker Road, Maidstone - Experimental one-way system

Update - September 2023

The experimental one-way scheme has now been in place since April and has helped keep the traffic flowing around Hart Street and Barker Road. Please come and visit the area to see some of the leisure, retail and food offerings available including the Love Food Food hall, Marino's Fish and Chip shop and McDonald’s.

We have been listening to your feedback and have made the following changes since June:

• Optimised the traffic lights. This has been done by amending the signal timings slightly and stopping the existing sensors on Barker Road from making the green phase leaving Lockmeadow from ending early. This means that more traffic can leave Lockmeadow estate on each green phase.
• Installed more substantial concrete barriers at the Hart Street and Barker Road junction. This has helped ensure the barriers are not moved and helped improve compliance with the No Entry restriction.
• Additional advisory signage put up to tell drivers how to reach businesses in Hart Street using the new mini roundabout near B&Q.

We are still keen to hear your views about the experimental one-way system on Hart Street and have now extended the consultation until 24 November 2023. Please give your feedback by using our questionnaire below.

Update - June 2023

The experimental one-way scheme has now been in place for two months. All businesses on Hart Street are open as usual and the experimental scheme includes additional on street parking outside Marino’s Fish and Chip Shop, River Kebab and Pizza, and Crown Cuts Hair Salon.

Remember, to access Hart Street you need to travel down Barker Road past the Maidstone Courts Centre and turn right at the new mini roundabout.

Please see the changes for yourself and let us know your thoughts using our questionnaire.

We are consulting on two Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) for Hart Street and Barker Road. The scheme includes changes to waiting restrictions, street parking and to introduce a one-way system.

This experimental traffic scheme aims to:

• improve traffic flow within the Lockmeadow Estate, reducing congestion and pollution from vehicle emissions
• deliver improvements for pedestrians with a more pedestrian friendly layout
• improve highway safety by discouraging drivers from taking risks such as over-taking and running red lights
• separate queuing traffic on Hart Street from Barker Road
• reduce queuing back onto The Broadway (A20 Maidstone Bridge gyratory).

The Orders began on the 27 February 2023 on an experimental basis for a period of eighteen months. The scheme will be reviewed so that we can make the decision to make the Orders permanent, amend or abandon it.

Prior to the ETROs coming in to effect, we need to install a mini roundabout at the southern end of Barker Road/Hart Street, replacing the give way junction. This is to ensure that drivers wishing to reach McDonalds and properties on Hart Street have equal priority at this junction and will aid the reduction in the number of drivers queueing to turn right up into Hart Street from Barker Road.

Full details of the scheme, including the scheme plan, can be found in the Consultation Document, with further details in Public Notice and Statement of Reason document, all of which can be found in the 'Documents' section.

Any person wishing to object or support the Orders before they are made permanent can do so via our response form.

We would also like to give you the opportunity to provide further feedback to help us better understand your views on the scheme.

What happens after the consultation?

The feedback from this consultation will be reported to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board (JTB). If the decision is taken to proceed, the ETROs will be advertised as a ‘Made Orders’. These will be publicised via a notice in the local newspaper and this webpage will be updated to reflect this.