The Road of Remembrance is the main road linking the town to the seaside, residents say the diversion route is leading to congestion and disruption.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 This is the aftermath of two landslips which happened along Folkestone Beach in January.
00:06 Months on, the road is still shut and now Kent County Councils announced it won't be
00:11 reopened this year.
00:13 The Road of Remembrance links the town centre and seafront and it's two of eight landslips
00:19 to hit the coastal town just this year.
00:22 Well here on the Road of Remembrance it's fair to say this landslip certainly will be
00:26 remembered by the community for a very long time.
00:29 Police say especially now the reopening of the road has been pushed back and they say
00:33 they don't know how they can put up with a diversion route until next year.
00:37 If you're coming from the other side of town, Sandgate Highway, you've got to do a massive
00:44 detour and one it's quite inconvenient and two it must really annoy the people that live
00:51 on the route that aren't used to having all the traffic.
00:56 And how does it feel to hear that it's not going to be reopening this year?
00:59 Well it seems rather long time, it's been shut for about three or four months now.
01:03 They want to pull their finger out don't they?
01:07 Quicker they get it sorted the better but because I'm in this I don't go up it anymore
01:14 anyway but when I was young and fit and I could run up that road once upon a time and
01:22 run down the thing.
01:24 It has to be safe for everybody which is the only reason they're keeping it shut.
01:27 They wouldn't keep it shut for any other reason that it's not structurally safe for people
01:31 to use.
01:32 So from a tourist perspective how did you find the signage and everything for the diversion
01:37 route?
01:38 We didn't, we guessed.
01:40 Normally we would come down the road down to the harbour but this time we had to guess
01:45 where to go, crossed over the roundabout and then thought we'll try down the alleyway.
01:50 Fireworks had started to be carried out with hopes the road might reopen in time for summer
01:56 but now works have been halted as further investigations need to be done to assess the
02:01 safety.
02:02 While residents worry about the road remaining closed throughout summer and the rest of this
02:06 year, KCC says the works are essential to preventing future landslips and ensuring the
02:12 safety of road users.
02:14 Sophia Akin for KMTV in Folkestone.