Chestfield Tunnel on A299 Thanet Way to remain closed for rest of week

23 Comments

1. Total incompetence from KCC who are clearly not fit for purpose when it comes to managing highways. They had each bore of the tunnel closed last year to replace the lighting. It would be interesting to know if these safety critical fans were checked or serviced at the same time. In the meantime local businesses and commuters pay the price for something beyond their control. It took me an hour longer than usual yesterday afternoon to complete my journey from the M25 to Thanet.

   • As businessman you should know machinery has to be checked regularly and even more relevant to these fans they can break down and show faults within weeks sometimes days of inspections. KCC cannot be held responsible for the extra time it takes for you to get to & from your place of work & home you should know that the safety of your workforce is paramount and to KCC the safety of the public including yourself is paramount. God forbid if you happened to be driving through the tunnel and there was an accident which sparked a fire and the fans failed a back up of traffic behind you is taking ages as people are panicking you can’t drive forward and the tunnel is filling up with smoke etc. Safety of you and your family and everyone else is paramount. I appreciate you have had a hard day and a very long journey both ways you want to get home to the family please think on what I’ve said it’s one of the problems with tunnels and a journey of miles when something goes wrong get your anger I been there with the Blackwall tunnel stuck in there for almost hours

     • This isn’t the platform for this, however kcc highways ineptitude goes far deeper than this, as stated look at the quality of work they are responsible for.

     • Big Chris undercover KCC operative. It’s a tunnel mate. You can literally spit from one end to the other. I think the wind might do a fairly good job of ventilation, ain’t exactly the blackwall tunnel is it? KCC isn’t responsible for my commute no, but they could do a damn site better job of not ruining our lives for months of the year every summer with works like this, that are frankly, unacceptable given the fact there were extensive works done literally less than 3 weeks ago.

       • Well said

     • I am not diminishing the safety aspect or the need for these jet fans to be working correctly. I drive through the tunnel several times a week and accept delays are sometimes unavoidable. However it seems strange to me that the fans in both tunnel bores have developed safety critical faults at exactly the same time. There is more to this issue than KCC are making public.

     • Big C, that would be all well and good if only one side was shut, it’s really quite unlikely yhe fans themselves have failed in both tunnels, so it’s likely its more a case of the control and power system, which given the amount ipof time the tunnel was being worked on for the lighting replacement surely the hardware in the tunnel,was given a thorough inspection and repair at the same time ? Where are the spares? Is there a maintenance agreement in place with a suitable maintenance company / supplier of spares.

2. Thank you Kathy for this update.

3. KCC and it’s term maintenance contractor is full of inadequacy from top to bottom, money wasting, poor workmanship and full of people not doing there jobs properly. This is completely unacceptable, KCC and head of Kent highways should resign, they monopolise as opposed to search for best value. A complete total an utter disgrace overseen by a tory county council. They do not care about any of the public or the effect of there actions, they must have taken lessons from the tory government. Noone is held accountable, you cannot get beyond there call centre so you can’t speak to anyone to give them the honest direc feedback they need, they have shut themselves away in an ivory tower. A disgrace. Look no further for n example if you want to know why they are on the verge of bankruptcy and inefficiency, not to forget incompetence. Resign all of you and rip up the term maintenance contract it’s an expensive unaccountable ineffective way of working. Go to numerous contractors and get best prices from competent contractors. There system is designed for large contractors and expensive rates, not effective planning and cost saving. You have made peoples lives a chore due to your actions, again. You only have to look at some of the poor quality of work conducted, it’s there to be seen when your driving around.

   • Steve – give it a rest lease. must get out more.

   • Mate, we get it. You have a personal axe to grind with KCC. Chill.

4. Look on the brightside.
   The trains are running just fine.
   Fascinating to read that the fans blow traffic pollution out of the tunnel. Where Di they blow it to?

   • Makes a change for the rail not to have a replacement bus service causing more issues, the pollution like airfield freight is in the air gently falling into your lungs, like the fumes from static traffic caused by KCC and kent highways

5. One would have thought if it was such a safety critical item there would be redundancy in place or an emergency back up system

   • Indeed, one would think so.

6. Looking grim for anyone wanting to get around Whistable, Herne Bay, or to/from Thanet to the M2. Canterbury is a car park (bet the air quality is poor too), country lanes will have to take the strain much to annoyance of the locals, coming after the months of congestion caused by the poorly designed unnecessarily long distance works on the Thanet Way KCC have managed to punish every road user (including ambulances etc) with just a mealy mouthed apology that really does not count for anything. Expect much longer journey times, increased air pollution and increased fuel costs caused by stop start traffic for miles on end.

   • “Expect much longer journey times, increased air pollution and increased fuel costs caused by stop start traffic for miles on end.”

     Last time the contraflow was in place, besides a couple of rear end smashes, the a299 was free flowing.

7. KCC probably more intent on carving an unnecessary road through Thanets grade1 farmland and snarling a bottle neck up even further than maintaining existing infrastructure correctly!😡😡

8. Park and Ride into Broadstairs, Margate and Ramsgate could be built somewhere in the Manston area then there will be no need for total destruction of our fields

   • “then there will be no need for total destruction of our fields”

     Manston is mostly fields?

     Also, most farmers round here are selling up due to farming not being commercially viable after Brexit/recent inflation compounding the Brexit effect.

9. Can you imagine what it will be like when manston reopens. Hundreds of Fuel tankers, HGV’s, passengers as well ( according to the papers ). The only road to the M2 ! It will be chaos, like dover when the ferries stop

10. Last two comments made by obviously stupid people

11. So can I get to margate from faversham or not