Focus on... traffic management

The Traffic Management team provides expert input into consultations on proposed changes to the highway, from new developments to changes in signage and speed limits. We play a big role in the traffic management of some large scale events and also deal with abnormal loads. 

We give advice to Kent County Council Highways and the Highways Agency on road safety issues to ensure the number of collisions goes down. We also ensure the correct regulations exist to allow our colleagues to carry out enforcement.

Following a serious or fatal collision, we will attend the site and look at the road layout and signage to see if improvements can be made to avoid future collisions.

A day in the life of…

Acting Inspector Rob Dell

13 years at Kent Police | Joined the Roads Policing Unit in April this year.

Yesterday, as acting inspector, I attended the morning meeting to brief my officers on the past 24 hours and forthcoming projects for the rest of the week.

I met with an engineering company to discuss ongoing plans for the M25. We continued to look at how the traffic management will be organised to ensure the public and road workers are safe during the works.

Yesterday I visited road work sites in the Ashford and Medway areas to carry out safety checks with KCC Highways and utility companies. I’m checking the works aren’t causing significant congestion or noise to local residents, and checking the workers are operating in a safe environment.

Part of our role is to have an input into the traffic management arrangements for large scale events, where they impact on the public highway, to ensure everyone remains safe on our roads. So yesterday my colleague and I attended a meeting with event organisers to discuss traffic arrangements for the Folkestone Airshow next year. 

Today I’ll be discussing Operation Stack with the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, the Highways Agency and KCC Highways. These quarterly get togethers ensure everyone knows their responsibilities and gives us a chance to discuss any recent issues. If Stack has been implemented since the last meeting, we’ll debrief that and identify any issues.

In the traffic management Unit, we’re also responsible for dealing with abnormal loads. Probably the largest load we’ve ever escorted was a couple of wind turbines measuring around 35 metres long. You can find out more about abnormal loads on our website.

See also:

Don't forget to watch a replay of yesterday's online chat. Inspector Geoff Wood answered your questions about policing on Kent's roads.

PICS: We've also uploaded some pictures onto our Flickr site this morning which show the uniforms and vehicles officers used to have, back in the day.

ADVICE: Check our our driving and road safety advice on our website.