NORTH CRAY ROAD, SIDCUP (Hansard, 17 February 1965)

§ Dame Patricia Hornsby-Smith (Chislehurst)
I wish tonight to raise the subject of the development of the North Cray Road. I am grateful to the Joint Parliamentary Secretary, whom I know has had rather shorter notice of the debate than he would normally have had, but I have written to him explaining the circumstances which gave rise to it. I can only hope that the happy circumstances of his right hon. Friend the Minister of Health announcing on Saturday the decision which made academic the Adjournment debate I originally was to raise tonight will have an equally happy augury in the answer the hon. Gentleman is able to give me this evening. I must say straight away that the subject which I am raising of the development of the North Cray Road concerns not only my own constituency but, at its eastern end, the Bexley division also.
I am raising this issue first for clarification for the sake of my constituents, for whom this subject has been for 26 years an unfulfilled legend, and also in the hope that the Parliamentary Secretary can give me some assurance as to the extent of the project, the date on which it will proceed, and the hoped for date when it will be completed. I am aware that there is at the moment—I have lost count of how many schemes there have been—a new and comprehensive scheme on the stocks. I accept that this has been necessary because of really dramatic changes in the whole of the environment of the area. Obviously many of the previous plans would not be applicable to the newly developed circumstances of the road.
North Cray, pre-war, was a delightful country village with very little traffic through it on what was virtually a country lane. Even as long as 29 years ago, in 1936 the Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Council produced a plan of alterations to the road. Then they still looked on it as a country village, but three things have made the matter extremely urgent now and the last of those three made it essentially urgent within the last 12 months.
1323 First, it has suffered from the ordinary increase of the 10 per cent. a year additional motor car traffic. Quite rightly, the Parliamentary Secretary will say, I am sure, "That is one of the headaches all round the country". I accept that. Secondly, two housing estates have been built there by my local Urban District Council and the population has doubled in the area since the war. By virtue of the family houses which have been erected, there is a substantially larger proportion of child population than there was 15 years ago. What has in my view given this priority over similar claims of other roads in other areas was the opening of the Dartford-Purfleet tunnel a year ago and the quite staggering increase in heavy traffic down this road.
The North Cray Road is very narrow. At one place it is only 15 feet wide. It links the A.20 with Old Bexley and then it winds through Old Bexley to link up with the A.2. The footpaths are so narrow that one pram will occupy the entire width and a toddler walking beside a pram has to be snatched out of the way of oncoming traffic, or, if the child is on the inside for safety, the pram has to be wheeled along the road. There have been several serious accidents on this road. Last time I put a Question about the number I was told that there were 13 serious accidents in a year and in the last four years there have been four deaths on this stretch of road. The traffic and the dangers have been enormously increased as a result of the opening of the Dartford-Purfleet Tunnel which in itself is a wonderful engineering achievement and has brought enormous benefit in relieving traffic congestion.
Kent is well served north-south by two great trunk roads, the A.2 and the A.20. But when one tries to go east-west across Kent there is no major through east-west road, either in north or south Kent. Whilst one can drive happily from north to south, it is a motorist's nightmare to try to get from east to west. As the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport knows, Thames-side, both north and south of the river, is mainly industrialised and huge, heavy vehicles carrying, for example, cement and paper—two of the great industries of Thames-side—come not only from 1324 the south bank of the river westwards across the county, but, by virtue of the tunnel, they come across from Essex, through the tunnel on to the A.2, and if their journey takes them eastward the drivers have got to find what outlets they can in what are generally secondary roads in order to go east-west.
Having swept through the tunnel, if they are going to the northern section of the south-eastern area they go down the A.2 until they get to the North Cray Road. Having gone along a wide multitrack road, they turn off down a narrow road leading them through Old Bexley village, round very sharp bends, over a narrow bridge on to the North Cray Road which is very winding and along which are footpaths some of which are not as wide as the benches in this Chamber. The traffic tears along with its very heavy loads to link up at Ruxley Corner, and if it wants to go to Croydon it goes along Sevenoaks Way. This stretch between the Sevenoaks link with the western side of the south-eastern area and with the A.2 is quite inadequate to meet this enormously increased traffic which we have had over the past two years. For residents, particularly the many families on the new housing estates with prams and young children, and also for the elderly, it is an absolute nightmare. Indeed, it is no mean hazard for the agile adult.
I realise—and, no doubt, this is a point which the Parliamentary Secretary will put forward—that there is being built the South Orbital Road round Swanley, but I believe that estimates of the extent to which this will relieve the traffic on North Cray Road are very much exaggerated as drivers tend to stick to the wide—and at the moment it is being even further widened and, therefore, made faster—A.2 road. They stick to the A.2 road as long as they can, and they will do that all the more when it is widened to Blackheath.
Drivers turn off across the country at the last practical moment, down the North Cray Road, to get to the southeastern area. In the same way, traffic coming from my industrial area in the Cray Valley, wanting to go to the east and to South Thames-side, or through the tunnel to Essex and East Anglia, comes off Sevenoaks Way, up to Ruxley Corner and down the North Cray Road to take the first opportunity of linking up with the tunnel.
1325 The feeling of anger and frustration among my constituents is not due to the projections of the proposed road widening which will certainly greatly hit many of those with fringe houses. They accept that it has got to be done and they are being perfectly reasonable about it, though many of them will lose their homes as a result. But they are annoyed at the lack of information given to them, and the continued delay. It is particularly hard on those residents, some of whom live in modest bungalows while others live in old Edwardian or Georgian houses.
They know that they may lose all their house or they may be merely losing a chunk of their front gardens, but they have been denied for many years knowledge of how much they will lose and whether they will have to leave their homes at the end. They do not know whether it is advisable for them to try to move elsewhere and obtain other accommodation. In view of the uncertainty it is impossible for them to sell their property. They cannot honourably try to sell their property when they have not been fully informed how much of the various properties will be used.
As late as last December residents received the answer when they made inquiries that At this stage it is not possible to give overall widths or estimate the effect on individual properties. This is unfair to the fringe property holders who have expected that their properties will be affected. They want to know by how much. It is impossible for them to plan whether to stay in their homes or to move elsewhere.
The Chislehurst and Sidcup Council unanimously agrees that traffic conditions warrant a major improvement as soon as possible. I accept that what ten years ago or even five years ago would have been a minor improvement must now be a major one because of the Dartford tunnel. Area surveys have been made and I believe that some preliminary land acquisition has been achieved where that was practicable, but up to date there has been no submission of any new scheme to the county council, which, in view of the magnitude of the project, I assume would have to give its opinion before the matter went to the Minister.
The scheme falls into two sections, as far as I have been able to ascertain, and 1326 there is a suggestion that it should be carried out in two chunks. I ask the Parliamentary Secretary, with all the sincerity that I cart command, to consider this very seriously. The first portion, which it is suggested should be carried out, is that between Ruxley Corner on the A.20 and Vicarage Road on the Bexley boundary, which is in my constituency. It then runs from Vicarage Road through Old Bexley down a narrow lane until it links with the A.2. If this scheme is carried out in two sections, the resulting traffic chaos and the danger in that small Old Bexley part of the road will be quite dreadful. It will mean that any lorries and other traffic coming off a major road like the A.20 will be going down a dual carriageway from Ruxley Corner to Vicarage Road. The traffic will be tearing along at probably 40 m.p.h., and probably faster, to coincide with the speed of traffic on the dual track section of the A.20. This traffic will suddenly come to this little village with its shopping centre, its narrow winding road and tiny bridge. I believe that the traffic there will be appalling in this short strip of about three-quarters of a mile between the Old Vicarage border of my constituency and the Bexley section of the A.2 if work on the second section is left over to some future date.
There will be from both ends high powered traffic streaming into this short strip through a very narrow and winding village with its shops and narrow pavements. I earnestly ask the Parliamentary Secretary if he can tell us when the scheme will go ahead and if he will give real consideration to this tremendous additional problem which does not apply elsewhere. This little road is subjected to tremendous traffic as a result of the opening of the Dartford tunnel. Will he do his utmost to see that the scheme is carried through as one project? I shudder to think what the problems will be otherwise.
Many of the lorries race down the road over the speed limit. Moreover, the carriageway is so narrow that, if a lorry takes the corner even slightly faster than it should or a little wider than it should, anyone coming from the other direction is forced on to the pavement. I have more than once been forced on to the pavement because of a heavy lorry coming round and giving itself five feet of space from the other side, which, in so narrow 1327 a road, means that there is not sufficient room for another vehicle to pass.
There is no doubt that many of the lorries do not keep to the speed limit. We have made protests to the police, who have been extremely good in having patrols in the area, but the hon. Gentleman does not need me to tell him that skilled lorry drivers have a most efficient method of signalling and, within minutes of a police patrol being on the road, all of them are scrupulously observing the speed limit. For a couple of days, they all keep to the speed limit, but, of course, the police have many calls on their time and have to go elsewhere, and, once again, heavy traffic is hurtling down this terribly narrow road which was never meant to take heavy vehicles of that kind.
The normal increase in traffic and the building of new estates would on their own have justified the improvement of this road. I am quite sure that the South Orbital Road will not take the increased traffic away. This improvement project should have maximum priority and, as I have said, it should, above all, be done as one job, not only for reasons of safety but for reasons of economy as well. It would cost less done in one job rather than in two.
I should mention also that, because of the narrowness of the road, lorries bound for Sidcup, as they get near Ruxley Corner, race through Ellenborough Road, through Palm Road and into the Sidcup Hill Road. They go through what was a tiny cul-de-sac where children could play in the street until a few months ago when, as a result of the building of one of the North Cray estates, the road was opened up into North Cray. Now, lorries race through roads which were never made for heavy traffic at all. I have had many complaints about it. I have had representations from the residents' association, from both political parties, and from many individuals.
Will the hon. Gentleman give us an assurance that the scheme will go forward with all possible speed? I hope that he will be able to say that he accepts it as practicable to build the road right through from this link. Also, will he ensure that the longest possible notice is given to the fringe dwellers affected, many of whom do not know whether they will lose 5 ft., 10 ft., or 15 ft. 1328 of their property or will lose their whole house. A few do, but certainly not all of them know, and they are entitled to know, especially in connection with a major project of this kind necessitated by our admitted lack of east-west links in Kent.

§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. Stephen Swingler)
When I read the Order Paper yesterday morning, I received a bit of a shock. I had had the outrageous thought that we might actually pass a whole week without an Adjournment debate on a transport question. But the right hon. Lady the Member for Chislehurst (Dame Patricia Hornsby-Smith) was determined to maintain my reputation as the most popular Adjournment speaker in the House. I was a little worried also about the possibility of informing myself adequately about the need to improve the North Cray Road in the short time available I quite understand from what the right hon. Lady has said that owing to the swift actions that are taken by the present Government it is sometimes necessary at short notice to change the subjects for debate. Therefore, we accepted the challenge, and I am extremely pleased to have found that it has been possible to get the facts and to make what I hope will prove to be an agreeable reply to the points that she has mentioned.
The right hon. Lady said that there have been in respect of the North Cray Road 26 years of frustration. I have not had time to investigate what has been going on over all those years. I am merely mindful of the fact that it is the right hon. Lady's right hon. Friends who have been in charge of the country's affairs during the greater part of that period. Perhaps that is the only partisan remark that I shall make tonight, because there is no dispute at all between the right hon. Lady and myself about the desirability of pressing ahead with the maximum speed to get the road improved. I say straight away that I am quite determined, having investigated the matter, that we in the Ministry of Transport shall not be the source of any delay whatsoever, if it can be avoided, in the provision of this improvement which will benefit the citizens in the area that are so badly affected by the present situation.
1329 First, I want to amplify one or two things which have been said by the right hon. Lady about the importance of the road as a through traffic route. We recognise that the North Cray Road is part of the major North-South link between the important radials of the A.2 and the A.21 and that the North Cray Road comprises the greater part of the route between the A.2 and the A.20. Apart from its use by local traffic, we recognise that, as the right hon. Lady has emphasised, it has been increasingly used, clearly to the detriment, and sometimes to the danger, of many of the people living in the area, by traffic which has benefited from the construction of the Dartford-Purfleet Tunnel and wishes to use the lines of communication between that and the South-East side of London.
I am advised that the average traffic volume in 1963 was 10,000 passenger car units per day. I am always a little unsure about some of these statistics, but I understand that this is a method of adding lorries to cars on the basis of one lorry equalling three car units. In 1964, a year later, the figure had risen to 12,000 passenger car units per day, which demonstrates the considerable build-up of traffic on that route. Indeed, the importance of the route for through traffic is shown by the fact that the North Cray Road is now designated as a primary route. This means that it will have the special signposting recently recommended by the Worboys Committee to facilitate its use by through traffic.
We are faced with a situation where the Greater London Council has asked for this road to be made into a metropolitan road when that Council takes over on 1st April so that it should become the highway authority. That is a matter which is not yet decided and about which discussions are still going on, but it signifies once again the importance which is attached to the road. We know that, as the right hon. Lady has said, the present road has just a single carriageway which is very narrow and very winding and cannot possibly satisfactorily carry the traffic which is at present trying to use it. Visibility is very bad. In our view, it is just not possible to achieve useful results on this road by means of small-scale improvements here and there. We are therefore clear that what is needed 1330 is the construction of a second carriageway.
I know that some local residents have suggested that a dual two-lane road is unnecessary and that relief could be given by means of smaller improvements. But if we compare the traffic volumes which now exist on the road with similar situations elsewhere, it is clear that at least dual two-lane carriageways are necessary. In fact, dual three-lane carriageways have been considered, and here I come to a point mentioned by the right hon. Lady in regard to other road improvements in the area.
The proposed new south orbital road between the A.2 and the A.20, which is now programmed for the year 1968–69, together with the local authority proposal for a new Croydon-Farnborough link road, which is not yet programmed, will provide a new route for through-traffic in this area and will, in our view, give some relief to the situation on the A.223. Therefore, in considering the question of the improvements that have to be made on the North Cray road, we conclude that the provision of a dual two-lane carriageway road is what is needed.
The scheme, therefore, is designed to provide a second carriageway over the 1¾ miles of the A.223 between the Ruxley roundabout on the A.20 and the junction of the A.223 with Vicarage Road. We agree that this is an urgent matter, from the point of view of road safety, for maintaining traffic flow and for the benefit of the citizens of the area.
It has already been programmed for the three-year period 1965–68 which we are just about to enter. We have a certain amount of flexibility in our planning for the three-year period, which is starting with the financial year 1965–66. It depends upon a number of factors as to how quickly this scheme, estimated to cost £300,000, can be brought forward.

§ Dame Patricia Hornsby-Smith
The hon. Gentleman has dealt with the stretch between Ruxley corner and Vicarage Road. What is the prospect? It would be disastrous if we were to get a dual track road as far as Vicarage Road and then have the concentrated dangers of a narrow road on this small strip through to the A.2. Much more is needed to avoid these dangers.

§ Mr. Swingler
I will come to that. I am making one point at a time. I cannot make an announcement about the whole link now.
At the moment, the responsibility for the detailed design for improvement of the road and the acquisition of land is that of the local highway authority. Of course, there may be some change here on 1st April. It is a question of whether this road will be recognised as a metropolitan road to be taken over by the Greater London Council or whether it will come under the London Borough of Bexley. But in any case it is for the local highway authority now to proceed as rapidly as possible with finishing the 1332 detailed design and submitting a grant application to us.
I can assure the right hon. Lady that, as soon as we receive the proposal, we will deal with it as rapidly as possible, so that the local highway authority can proceed. The preparation of the scheme will meet some of the criticisms of her constituents.