Tonbridge to St. Johns at 8-30am is a Nightmare!...

It's been a while since I drove along the St. John's Road in the rush hour but I had to today for reasons which I won't go into. All I can say is what a nightmare! And this on a day inbetween Bank Holidays when there will be quite a few people taking days off. That said I was impressed with my own knowledge of the back lanes which allowed me to take a right fork at Southborough Common and then through the trees somewhere near Modest Corner (probably) then round the back of a housing estate to come out on Reynolds Lane and then right around the back so that eventually you return to the main road near St. John's church. Pretty impressive stuff really! I must have saved at least six and a half minutes which turned out to be the crucial six and a half minutes to get me to my desitination on time. Mind you I had to almost literally take my life into my own hands on some of those lanes. It reminded me of those scenes in Doc Martin where the cumudgeonly GP is driving along the very narrow Cornish roads carefully so as not to risk his new Mercedes wing mirrors getting knocked and then every so often he's driven off the road by some farmer in a batterred old Landrover who is so used to the roads he doesn't see anything wrong with re-enacting Death Race 2000.
But what can be done about those main roads being so clogged? Here's Tonbridge Blog's proposed solution: Allow bikes to ride on pavements between Tonbridge and Southborough which would encourage school kids to stay fit by cycling to school (hardly anyone walks along that stretch anyway so that should cause any problems;) stagger school start times say between 8-30 and 10am. Employers of office staff introduce flexitime so that early birds can start work at 7-30 and non morning types (like me) can leave it till 10 o'clock if they choose. On top of that the Kent Freedom Pass would be extended to include 6th Formers and college students which would encourage the use of public transport rather than parents being tempted to drive their teenage children around everywhere. This could easily be justified by the fact that KCC's "administration" charge for the scheme has just gone up to £100 from £50 for all 11-16 year olds. Unless the powers that be (that's Kent County Council and the two borough councils) actually do something about it then the St. Johns Road will just steadily get worse. Anyone have any other suggestions?....