Ambitious £70m plans to ease traffic in Canterbury's congested city centre with a series of outskirts slip-roads are set for county council approval.

The city council’s draft district transport strategy suggests diverting motorists around the city’s congestion hotspots.

It proposes four major detours but these will only see the light of day if funding can be secured from private developers.

The scheme – a blueprint for the city council’s future transport proposals – forms part of the authority’s Local Plan which envisions 15,600 new homes in the coming years.

As revealed by the Kentish Gazette early last year, the transport strategy tables several key additions to the district’s current road layout.

It suggests:

• A link road from the A257 at Littlebourne Road to the A28 Military Road through the Howe Barracks site
• A new junction on the A2 with roads connecting the New Dover Road and its park and ride to the Nackington Road, with a link for buses to South Canterbury Road;
• A link road off Sturry Hill to Broad Oak Road and Sturry Road with a bridge over the railway line
• A slip road off the coastbound A2 at Wincheap and new road through the Wincheap Industrial Estate, coming out on the A28 next to the Maiden’s Head pub.

KCC is set to approve the strategy early next month.

The county authority is recommended to agree with Canterbury city council’s assessment that cash for the roads should be sought from private companies seeking planning permission for large-scale development.

Simon Cook, leader of Canterbury City Council, said: “It’s important we get approval from KCC as they control some of the roads.

"It’s not as if we can come up with whatever we like and they sign it off. We’ve been working on this jointly with KCC.”