National Highways has started work on the new slip roads that will link to and from the M2 in Kent as part of an upgraded Junction 5, closing routes on and off the motorway for eastbound vehicles for four months.
The move, which National Highways said would reduce disruption and keep workers and drivers safer will add up to 15 minutes to some journeys in the meantime.
The project is costed at £50m to £100m and will see a flyover added to the existing Stockbury Roundabout, which provides access to vehicles leaving and joining the M2 in both directions.
Two dedicated free-flowing slip roads are being created for traffic travelling from the A249 southbound to the M2 westbound and from the A249 northbound to the M2 eastbound.
To join the M2 eastbound during the closures, drivers should use the M2 westbound to Junction 4 and return. National Highways said this will add approximately 10-12 minutes to journeys.
Eastbound drivers on the M2 will need to leave at Junction 3 and use the A229, M20 and A249 to reach the Stockbury roundabout, adding approximately 15 minutes to journeys.
Both eastbound slip roads will re-open in January, although access from the M2 eastbound to the A249 northbound – currently via a dedicated slip road ¬– will temporarily be via the Stockbury roundabout until the dedicated slip opens in spring 2023.
As part of the project, Maidstone Road to the Stockbury Roundabout will be closed, and be re-routed to link with Oad Street, with the existing junction of Oad Street with the A249 closed and a new link provided to connect with the Stockbury Roundabout.
On 12 September National Highways also closed Oad Street until 10 October, to finish widening work. It said it had reviewed how it completes the work and reduced the length of this closure.
It said that, following feedback from the community and stakeholders, it had ‘refreshed’ the white lines on the Stockbury roundabout overnight. A spokesperson told Highways that it had added the work to the project to reduce disruption.
