A21 Sevenoaks Road safety improvement scheme

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Consultation has concluded

Update 9 September 

Today we have published our response to issues raised report following the consultation on our proposals to make safety improvements to the A21 Sevenoaks Road.  

Between 4 January 2024 and 15 February 2024, we held a public consultation on proposals to make safety improvements to the A21 Sevenoaks Road junction with London Road.   In that consultation, we proposed to:

  • Reduce the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph 
  • Reinstate a right turn for eastbound traffic on the A21 onto London Road (which had previously been banned as an emergency safety measure), but to control it with new traffic signals
  • Maintain the westbound carriageway at one lane (it was previously reduced from two lanes to one lane, also as an emergency safety measure)

We published our consultation report in July 2024 but after an initial review of the responses to the consultation we decided to carry out some additional work, including to assess the wider impact of our proposals on traffic in surrounding areas. 

We have now made our decision about what to do next and are publishing our responses to the issues raised during the consultation, and our next steps.

We originally stopped traffic from turning right into London Road from the A21 because two people in a vehicle turning right at this junction were tragically killed in a collision here in February 2022. There was a previous fatal collision in September 2020 involving a right turning goods vehicle into London Road and a car travelling southwest bound on the A21.  We moved as quickly as we could to address the causes of the collision and banned the turn using an Emergency Traffic Order.  We explained the changes and the reasons why these had been implemented to the local community and received concerns from local people questioning the need for the turn to be banned and asking that we hold a consultation with them.   

We listened carefully to these concerns, and we swiftly developed a proposal to introduce a new traffic signal at the junction of the A21 and London Road, to enable traffic to turn right into London Road safely.  We then held a consultation with local people.

There was a mixed response to the consultation, as is often the case.  Some people were supportive of the measures to improve road safety at the A21 London Road/Sevenoaks Road junction, including by reducing the speed limit to 40 mph.  Other people raised some concerns about our proposals, including about the effect they thought the proposed new traffic signals might have on journey times for traffic.  Since the consultation concluded we’ve undertaken some additional work, as follows: 

  • We undertook some additional modelling to test what effects the proposed new traffic signal would have on journey times.   This modelling indicated that there would be delays of no more than one minute as a result of the proposed measures and some small queues at the stop lines due to the introduction of traffic signals, which are entirely expected with the introduction of a new traffic signal and indeed are common at every signalised junction. Any queues would have occurred only at the stop line during the red light, but would have cleared as soon as the lights turn green. Most importantly the westbound queue would not reach back to Hewitts Roundabout

  • We also undertook additional work to further refine and determine the cost of the proposals for a new traffic signal.  This was to enable us to make a fully informed decision on how best to move forward.  We found that the cost to introduce a new traffic signal would be high, expected to cost  above £3m.  The main driver was the costs for works to build a new traffic island on which the signals would stand and resurfacing, as well as the traffic management measures necessary on a busy dual carriageway to ensure the safety of construction workers

  • We received responses to the consultation from other organisations, including the Metropolitan Police Road Safety Unit, who stated a preference to retain the right turn ban from the A21 into London Road, thus negating the requirement for any further measures

  • Since the consultation closed, emerging plans for a new housing development in the Knockholt area have been released. These plans are at a very early stage but might, if given consent, increase the amount of vehicles which might need to access London Road from the A21     

In deciding how to move forward we have taken into account the obvious and compelling need to keep people using the A21 safe.  We've also considered the outcomes of the consultation and the additional work we’ve since undertaken, and which we described above.  

Next steps

Taking these factors into account, we have decided to keep the road layout as it is currently.  We will retain the banned turn and will not introduce a new traffic signal at this time.  We plan to change the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph as we proposed.  This would provide safety benefits to road users.

The banned right turn has not resulted in a significant increase in congestion on the A21 and at Hewitts Roundabout. However, we will keep the operation of the junction under review, including as the plans for the new housing development in Knockholt are refined and progressed. We will also continue to explore potential improvements to parallel cycle routes alongside the London Borough of Bromley, since this was also an issue that respondents to the consultation raised.

We understand that people have strong views about this issue and we have further information about the decision in our report.

-update ends-

Update 18 July 2024

Between 04 January 2024 and 15 February 2024, we held a public consultation on proposals to make safety improvements to the A21 Sevenoaks Road.

We have now published our report on the outcomes of the consultation, which you can view in the Documents section of this webpage.

We received 786 responses to the consultImage showing cars and cyclists on A21 Sevenoaks Roadation and thank you to everyone who took part. A range of views were expressed during the consultation, with comments, concerns and suggestions raised.

Having undertaken an initial review of the responses to the consultation and taking into account the safety case for the proposals, we have decided to keep the current road layout as it is, at least for the time being, whilst we undertake further investigations. These will include surveys and additional traffic modelling in the area, to ensure the scheme would not impede the safe and efficient movement of traffic through the area. We have decided that this is the best way to proceed because a number of respondents to the consultation questioned what effect the scheme would have on traffic flow.

This means that the right turn from the A21 Sevenoaks Road into London Road will remain closed while we complete our further investigations, for safety reasons. We have not yet made any decisions about what the longer-term future of this junction should be, and we will not do so until we have completed this further work and considered the issues raised by respondents to our consultation.

The Traffic Order that we used to enable us to prohibit the right turn from the A21 eastbound onto London Road will expire in November 2024. Prior to this we will ‘make’ a new Traffic Order to enable the closure to remain in place while we complete the further work we described above.

We will continue to liaise with the borough, local residents, community stakeholder groups and others to provide updates on our progress. We will write to all those people who responded to our consultation again later this year, by which time we hope to have completed our further investigations. At this point we will explain the outcomes of our further work and we will publish our responses to the issues raised by respondents to the consultation. We will also explain our next steps, and whether the banned right turn will be retained in the longer term.

-update ends-

Update 16 February 2024

This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly.

-update ends-


In May 2023 we made some emergency changes to the A21 at its junction with Sevenoaks Road. We have now reviewed the changes and want to hear your thoughts about a new set of proposals.

On this page you can read what is proposed and how you can have your say.

You have until  Thursday 15 February 2024  to give us your feedback.


Our new proposals for the junction

Background

Information to help you respond

Equalities Impact Assessment

Tell us your views

What happens next


Our new proposals for the junction

In summary, we propose to:

  • To reduce the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph

  • Reinstate the banned right turn on the eastbound A21, but to control it with new traffic signals

  • Keep the westbound traffic at one lane, reduced from two

We have also produced a map to illustrate these changes.  


A21 Sevenoaks Road junction with London Road map(Click on the map for larger version)


Background

In May 2023 we made some emergency changes to the A21 at its junction with Sevenoaks Road (commonly known as London Road) to make it safer for all road users. Specifically, the changes we made were:

  • Banning the right-hand turning movement from the A21 into Sevenoaks Road
  • Moving the ‘merge point’ for traffic further east and reducing the eastbound lane of A21 Sevenoaks Road down to a single lane. We did so to help road users be more visible to one another

We made these changes because over the last three years or so, there have been two collisions at this junction in which three people tragically lost their lives. These collisions occurred between vehicles travelling westbound with vehicles turning in and out of this junction. The changes were intended to keep everyone using this junction safe. This is in line with The Mayor’s Vision Zero Action Plan which is central to our aim to eliminate all death and serious injuries on London’s roads. To achieve this, we must take steps to reduce road danger for everyone.

These changes were made using an Emergency Traffic Order (ETO) so that we could introduce the changes quickly, and so that we could monitor their impact.


Information to help you respond

We have provided more information to help you respond. Visit the Documents section for:

You can use the questions tool on this page during the consultation period. We will respond your questions as soon as we can.

If you need to translate this page into another language, please use the ‘Select language’ button at the bottom of this page.


Drop-in events

As part of our consultation, we are hosting in person drop-in events for local people who have questions about the scheme. We will be hosting the event on:

Wednesday 17 January 2024 (07:00 - 09:30) and Thursday 25 January 2024 (07:00 - 09:30), Knockholt Station, Old London Road, Chelsfield, Sevenoaks, TN14 7HR

We will have paper copies of the survey, maps and consultation materials available and the team will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.


Equalities Impact Assessment

Our Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) identifies:

  • The affects these proposals could have on people

  • How we propose to minimise any negative impacts

After we’ve considered all comments, the EqIA will be reviewed and may be updated.

We use the EqIA to help us decide if, and how, we should proceed with these proposals.


Connecting with London's deaf community on our consultations

A British Sign Language video of the proposals and survey is available.

To enhance how we engage and consult with London's deaf community we are trialling a British Sign Language (BSL) consultation conversation service for this consultation. This service will allow the TfL consultation lead to have a two-way BSL translated discussion on any aspect of this consultation with a BSL speaker.

To request a BSL consultation conversation please contact us at haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk and we will be in contact to arrange this at a convenient time. Following this trial, we will evaluate the service to determine if this is something we are able to offer on other consultations in the future.


What happens next

These proposals are subject to the outcome of our consultation. Once consultation ends on Thursday 15 February 2024, we will spend time considering all the responses we receive and will prepare a consultation report.

The report will be available to everyone that takes part in the consultation and a copy will be published on our website.


Top

Update 9 September 

Today we have published our response to issues raised report following the consultation on our proposals to make safety improvements to the A21 Sevenoaks Road.  

Between 4 January 2024 and 15 February 2024, we held a public consultation on proposals to make safety improvements to the A21 Sevenoaks Road junction with London Road.   In that consultation, we proposed to:

  • Reduce the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph 
  • Reinstate a right turn for eastbound traffic on the A21 onto London Road (which had previously been banned as an emergency safety measure), but to control it with new traffic signals
  • Maintain the westbound carriageway at one lane (it was previously reduced from two lanes to one lane, also as an emergency safety measure)

We published our consultation report in July 2024 but after an initial review of the responses to the consultation we decided to carry out some additional work, including to assess the wider impact of our proposals on traffic in surrounding areas. 

We have now made our decision about what to do next and are publishing our responses to the issues raised during the consultation, and our next steps.

We originally stopped traffic from turning right into London Road from the A21 because two people in a vehicle turning right at this junction were tragically killed in a collision here in February 2022. There was a previous fatal collision in September 2020 involving a right turning goods vehicle into London Road and a car travelling southwest bound on the A21.  We moved as quickly as we could to address the causes of the collision and banned the turn using an Emergency Traffic Order.  We explained the changes and the reasons why these had been implemented to the local community and received concerns from local people questioning the need for the turn to be banned and asking that we hold a consultation with them.   

We listened carefully to these concerns, and we swiftly developed a proposal to introduce a new traffic signal at the junction of the A21 and London Road, to enable traffic to turn right into London Road safely.  We then held a consultation with local people.

There was a mixed response to the consultation, as is often the case.  Some people were supportive of the measures to improve road safety at the A21 London Road/Sevenoaks Road junction, including by reducing the speed limit to 40 mph.  Other people raised some concerns about our proposals, including about the effect they thought the proposed new traffic signals might have on journey times for traffic.  Since the consultation concluded we’ve undertaken some additional work, as follows: 

  • We undertook some additional modelling to test what effects the proposed new traffic signal would have on journey times.   This modelling indicated that there would be delays of no more than one minute as a result of the proposed measures and some small queues at the stop lines due to the introduction of traffic signals, which are entirely expected with the introduction of a new traffic signal and indeed are common at every signalised junction. Any queues would have occurred only at the stop line during the red light, but would have cleared as soon as the lights turn green. Most importantly the westbound queue would not reach back to Hewitts Roundabout

  • We also undertook additional work to further refine and determine the cost of the proposals for a new traffic signal.  This was to enable us to make a fully informed decision on how best to move forward.  We found that the cost to introduce a new traffic signal would be high, expected to cost  above £3m.  The main driver was the costs for works to build a new traffic island on which the signals would stand and resurfacing, as well as the traffic management measures necessary on a busy dual carriageway to ensure the safety of construction workers

  • We received responses to the consultation from other organisations, including the Metropolitan Police Road Safety Unit, who stated a preference to retain the right turn ban from the A21 into London Road, thus negating the requirement for any further measures

  • Since the consultation closed, emerging plans for a new housing development in the Knockholt area have been released. These plans are at a very early stage but might, if given consent, increase the amount of vehicles which might need to access London Road from the A21     

In deciding how to move forward we have taken into account the obvious and compelling need to keep people using the A21 safe.  We've also considered the outcomes of the consultation and the additional work we’ve since undertaken, and which we described above.  

Next steps

Taking these factors into account, we have decided to keep the road layout as it is currently.  We will retain the banned turn and will not introduce a new traffic signal at this time.  We plan to change the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph as we proposed.  This would provide safety benefits to road users.

The banned right turn has not resulted in a significant increase in congestion on the A21 and at Hewitts Roundabout. However, we will keep the operation of the junction under review, including as the plans for the new housing development in Knockholt are refined and progressed. We will also continue to explore potential improvements to parallel cycle routes alongside the London Borough of Bromley, since this was also an issue that respondents to the consultation raised.

We understand that people have strong views about this issue and we have further information about the decision in our report.

-update ends-

Update 18 July 2024

Between 04 January 2024 and 15 February 2024, we held a public consultation on proposals to make safety improvements to the A21 Sevenoaks Road.

We have now published our report on the outcomes of the consultation, which you can view in the Documents section of this webpage.

We received 786 responses to the consultImage showing cars and cyclists on A21 Sevenoaks Roadation and thank you to everyone who took part. A range of views were expressed during the consultation, with comments, concerns and suggestions raised.

Having undertaken an initial review of the responses to the consultation and taking into account the safety case for the proposals, we have decided to keep the current road layout as it is, at least for the time being, whilst we undertake further investigations. These will include surveys and additional traffic modelling in the area, to ensure the scheme would not impede the safe and efficient movement of traffic through the area. We have decided that this is the best way to proceed because a number of respondents to the consultation questioned what effect the scheme would have on traffic flow.

This means that the right turn from the A21 Sevenoaks Road into London Road will remain closed while we complete our further investigations, for safety reasons. We have not yet made any decisions about what the longer-term future of this junction should be, and we will not do so until we have completed this further work and considered the issues raised by respondents to our consultation.

The Traffic Order that we used to enable us to prohibit the right turn from the A21 eastbound onto London Road will expire in November 2024. Prior to this we will ‘make’ a new Traffic Order to enable the closure to remain in place while we complete the further work we described above.

We will continue to liaise with the borough, local residents, community stakeholder groups and others to provide updates on our progress. We will write to all those people who responded to our consultation again later this year, by which time we hope to have completed our further investigations. At this point we will explain the outcomes of our further work and we will publish our responses to the issues raised by respondents to the consultation. We will also explain our next steps, and whether the banned right turn will be retained in the longer term.

-update ends-

Update 16 February 2024

This consultation has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. We are analysing your feedback and will report back shortly.

-update ends-


In May 2023 we made some emergency changes to the A21 at its junction with Sevenoaks Road. We have now reviewed the changes and want to hear your thoughts about a new set of proposals.

On this page you can read what is proposed and how you can have your say.

You have until  Thursday 15 February 2024  to give us your feedback.


Our new proposals for the junction

Background

Information to help you respond

Equalities Impact Assessment

Tell us your views

What happens next


Our new proposals for the junction

In summary, we propose to:

  • To reduce the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph

  • Reinstate the banned right turn on the eastbound A21, but to control it with new traffic signals

  • Keep the westbound traffic at one lane, reduced from two

We have also produced a map to illustrate these changes.  


A21 Sevenoaks Road junction with London Road map(Click on the map for larger version)


Background

In May 2023 we made some emergency changes to the A21 at its junction with Sevenoaks Road (commonly known as London Road) to make it safer for all road users. Specifically, the changes we made were:

  • Banning the right-hand turning movement from the A21 into Sevenoaks Road
  • Moving the ‘merge point’ for traffic further east and reducing the eastbound lane of A21 Sevenoaks Road down to a single lane. We did so to help road users be more visible to one another

We made these changes because over the last three years or so, there have been two collisions at this junction in which three people tragically lost their lives. These collisions occurred between vehicles travelling westbound with vehicles turning in and out of this junction. The changes were intended to keep everyone using this junction safe. This is in line with The Mayor’s Vision Zero Action Plan which is central to our aim to eliminate all death and serious injuries on London’s roads. To achieve this, we must take steps to reduce road danger for everyone.

These changes were made using an Emergency Traffic Order (ETO) so that we could introduce the changes quickly, and so that we could monitor their impact.


Information to help you respond

We have provided more information to help you respond. Visit the Documents section for:

You can use the questions tool on this page during the consultation period. We will respond your questions as soon as we can.

If you need to translate this page into another language, please use the ‘Select language’ button at the bottom of this page.


Drop-in events

As part of our consultation, we are hosting in person drop-in events for local people who have questions about the scheme. We will be hosting the event on:

Wednesday 17 January 2024 (07:00 - 09:30) and Thursday 25 January 2024 (07:00 - 09:30), Knockholt Station, Old London Road, Chelsfield, Sevenoaks, TN14 7HR

We will have paper copies of the survey, maps and consultation materials available and the team will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.


Equalities Impact Assessment

Our Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) identifies:

  • The affects these proposals could have on people

  • How we propose to minimise any negative impacts

After we’ve considered all comments, the EqIA will be reviewed and may be updated.

We use the EqIA to help us decide if, and how, we should proceed with these proposals.


Connecting with London's deaf community on our consultations

A British Sign Language video of the proposals and survey is available.

To enhance how we engage and consult with London's deaf community we are trialling a British Sign Language (BSL) consultation conversation service for this consultation. This service will allow the TfL consultation lead to have a two-way BSL translated discussion on any aspect of this consultation with a BSL speaker.

To request a BSL consultation conversation please contact us at haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk and we will be in contact to arrange this at a convenient time. Following this trial, we will evaluate the service to determine if this is something we are able to offer on other consultations in the future.


What happens next

These proposals are subject to the outcome of our consultation. Once consultation ends on Thursday 15 February 2024, we will spend time considering all the responses we receive and will prepare a consultation report.

The report will be available to everyone that takes part in the consultation and a copy will be published on our website.


Top

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Tell us your views

    We are holding a six-week public consultation to hear what you think about these proposals. We want to know if you agree with them, if there is anything you do not agree with, and to understand the reasons why you feel this way.

    You can reply by completing our survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. The closing date for comments is Thursday 15 February 2024.

    To take part in our online survey you will need to register with your email address. Your details will be kept secure.

    If you prefer, you can also let us have your comments by:

    • Email: haveyoursay@tfl.gov.uk
    • Telephone: 020 3054 6037 to leave your name and contact number and we will call you back. Please quote 'A21 Sevenoaks Road' when leaving your message
    • Write to: Freepost TfL Have your say (A21 Sevenoaks Road) 
    Please note responses to the survey may be made publicly available after the consultation has closed, this would typically be in the form of a report on the results of the consultation exercise, but any personal information will be kept confidential. Your personal information will be properly safeguarded and processed in accordance with the requirements of privacy and data protection legislation. For further information, please visit our privacy policy. 
    Consultation has concluded
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