This exciting, award-winning urbanisation project saw Jackson charged with rejuvenating the town centre ring road in Ashford, Kent.
The scheme involved changing a three and four-lane one-way system into a single two-way system while also revamping the look and feel of the location with high specification road and footway materials.
The improvements, which took in busy shopping areas, were designed to encourage freedom of movement of pedestrians throughout sections of the ring road, creating a ‘shared space’ environment similar to that used successfully in European towns and cities on the mainland.
Works included the installation of paving, drainage, street furniture and ducting. An existing roundabout was converted to a traffic controlled junction and street lighting and kerbing also installed.
The Jackson team included a trained traffic safety officer (TSCO) and two assistants. The TSCO was responsible for liaising with the local highway authority to agree and implement traffic management arrangements to ensure that the travelling public’s interface with the works was safe, clear and in accordance with legislation.
Schemes of this nature involve numerous diversions to underground services. In Ashford there were over twenty major service diversions involving water, gas, electricity, telephone and cable TV networks. Very often these diversions took place in the same location and it was vital to plan and programme the works thoroughly to ensure the correct sequence of operations was carried out.
The scheme was well received, winning a number of awards including Sustain Magazine’s Best Public Realm Project and the Innovation category at the ICE Engineering Awards.
