National Highways’ £112m A2 Bean and Ebbsfleet scheme has opened to traffic.
The Bean and Ebbsfleet junctions on the busy trunk road have both been upgraded by adding new lanes to their existing roundabouts and slip roads to increase their capacity. At Bean, a new bridge has been built over the A2 (pictured below).
National Highways regional delivery director Chris Welby Everard said: ‘The A2 is a key route connecting people, communities and businesses, including the Bluewater shopping centre, between London and the Kent Thameside area.
‘Upgrading it has also provided additional capacity to accommodate the many new developments proposed, while improving journey times and increasing safety, which is good news for the local and regional economy.’
The Ebbsfleet Development Corporation contributed £45m to the junctions project, with the Government putting up £67m.
National Highways said the upgraded junctions have already helped support the local economy, including supporting new jobs and 15,000 new homes, which have also been supported by the Corporation.
However, roads minister Baroness Vere said the junction had ‘already created new jobs as well as 15,000 new homes, demonstrating the enormous significance local roads projects like this can have’.
She said: 'This scheme will be welcomed by local residents and businesses alike, who will now be able to benefit from the improved journey times and increased capacity from the new junction.'
The two junctions are just over a mile apart. The Bean junction connects the Bluewater shopping centre and the B255 to the A2, while the Ebbsfleet junction (above) connects the A2 with the B259 Southfleet Road.
The improvements at the Bean junction have broadly followed the existing road layout, an additional bridge over the A2 next to the existing bridge, and a new slip road onto the A2 for eastbound traffic.
