Kent County Council has ruled out a pedestrian crossing on the A25 Westerham Road at Bessels Green after surveys found 16 people crossing in 24 hours and a carriageway too narrow for a refuge island.

Bessels Green will not get a pedestrian crossing on the A25 Westerham Road, Kent County Council highways officers have concluded, after an assessment triggered by a residents’ petition found the location “does not currently meet the requirements for a pedestrian crossing”. The findings were reported to the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board on Wednesday 10 June. (KCC Highways and Transportation, report to Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board, 10 June 2026)

The petition, handed in at the board’s meeting in March, asked the county council to assess the need for a formal crossing on the stretch of the A25 between Bessels Green Road and Park Place. The road cuts the village in two: homes sit on both sides, while the pub, the Baptist church and the village green are all on the southern side, and residents raised particular concern about school-aged children crossing to reach the bus stops.

What the assessment found

A25 Bessels Green crossing assessment key figures: 16 pedestrians crossing in 24 hours, 6.4 metre carriageway against 10 metres needed for an island, 31mph 85th percentile speed, one injury collision in three years, requirements not met
Chart by Sevenoaks Online.

KCC’s Highway Improvements Team visited the site in May, ran traffic and pedestrian counts and reviewed the collision record. The numbers did not make the campaigners’ case (KCC report, 10 June 2026):

  • A 24-hour pedestrian survey recorded just 16 people crossing the A25 here, all of them in three hour-long windows around the morning and afternoon peaks.
  • A week-long traffic count put average speeds at around 26mph in both directions, with 85th percentile speeds of 31.0mph eastbound and 30.9mph westbound in the 30mph limit.
  • In the three years to the end of 2025 there was one personal injury collision on this section, and it did not involve a pedestrian.

The site itself also fails the engineering tests. A pedestrian refuge island needs a carriageway at least 10 metres wide; Westerham Road here is about 6.4 metres, and there is no spare highway land to widen it, with houses on the north side and a registered village green on the south. A zebra crossing requires moderate to high pedestrian demand through the day, which 16 crossings in 24 hours does not meet. Officers also noted that a formal crossing would probably require moving one or both of the very bus stops the children are trying to reach.

Not a complete dead end

The report, classed as for information rather than decision, leaves the door ajar. KCC says it “will continue to work with Chevening Parish Council and local Member Nigel Williams to explore whether alternative measures could be introduced to improve pedestrian safety across the wider area”. Those alternatives are not specified, but the report’s own observations flag overhanging vegetation restricting visibility on the north side, the kind of issue that can be dealt with without building a crossing.

Also at the board: resurfacing dates and 10,000 EV chargers

The same meeting received KCC’s forward works programme for the district, which puts dates on this year’s major resurfacing (KCC, Highway Works Programme, Sevenoaks West Kent, June 2026):

  • A224 London Road and Morants Court Road, Dunton Green (Polhill Road to Leonards Road): programmed for 24 July 2026.
  • B2026 Hartfield Road and Stick Hill, Edenbridge (Lydens Hill to Cowden Pound Road): programmed for 19 August 2026.
  • A225 Dartford Road, Horton Kirby (Calfstock Lane to Franks Lane): programmed for 10 September 2026.
  • Footway reconstruction is to be designed for Swan Ridge in Edenbridge, with footway preservation work lined up for Lyndhurst Drive, Marlborough Crescent and The Close in Riverhead.
  • Surface treatments proposed for 2026/27 include Pilgrims Way and Watery Lane at Kemsing, Hole Lane at Edenbridge, Stone Street at Seal and Maplescombe Lane at Farningham.

KCC notes the dates are weather dependent, and that affected residents are told of any change by a letter drop.

The board also heard an update on the county’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure project, which aims to deliver around 10,000 on-street EV charging sockets across Kent over a phased programme of up to ten years, aimed at households without off-street parking. Contracts were signed in February 2026 with Urban Fox, a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Urban Electric Networks, which will install, own and operate the network, and suggestions for charger locations from councillors and residents feed into the site selection. (KCC, Electric Vehicle Charging LEVI report to JTB, June 2026)

What it means for you

If you live on or off one of the roads listed above, expect closures or temporary lights around the programmed dates; KCC writes to affected homes before work starts. The full works list, including drainage repairs and signpost replacements, is in the board papers. For live disruption across the district, see our Sevenoaks roadworks and travel page, and if your street is a candidate for an EV charger you can put it forward through your county councillor.

The minutes of the meeting, recording what members said in response to the Bessels Green findings, will appear on the council’s committee pages once approved.

Sources

Image: Bessels Green by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph. Chart by Sevenoaks Online.