We should finish Link Road first

The report in last Friday’s Observer that up to £78m is to be spent on widening the A21 between Tonbridge and Pembury, may be good news for motorists travelling in that area, but it is bad news for this area. Apart from the fact that southwards from Pembury the A21 remains narrow and dangerous, the Flimwell junction, already a major bottleneck, will become even more so. Then there is the additional problem, that once widened at Pembury, even more heavy traffic will use the A21 to travel southwards to the ‘disconnected’ Bexhill/Hastings Link Road. Surely, the more sensible programme would be to spend some of that £78m on completing the Link road first, before encouraging more traffic to this area.