Work to build a new slip road on Medway City Estate has begun today, with completion expected at the end of February next year. The new slip road will take motorists directly from Medway City Estate onto A289 Berwick Way towards Strood, Hoo and the M2 for London and north Kent, bypassing Anthonys Way roundabout. Lane closures are in place westbound (towards Strood) between Gillingham Gate Roundabout and Frindsbury Hill. The speed limit in both directions of the Medway Tunnel has also been temporarily reduced from 50mph to 30mph. Medway Council hopes the slip road will "greatly reduce waiting time" for traffic leaving the industrial estate, despite growing evidence showing that building more lanes does not ease congestion in the long-term. As part of the junction upgrade, work will also include road resurfacing, footway improvements, drainage works, traffic signal upgrades and new street lighting. It will be necessary to close Anthonys Way, Berwick Way, Vanguard Way and the Medway Tunnel in both directions later this year. The road closures are scheduled to take place weeknights only between 6 and 17 December 2021, and again weeknights only between 19 January and 2 February 2022, from 8pm to 5:30am. Local bus services will be diverted whenever the roads are closed and will not be able to pick up or drop off passengers in either direction. Further details are expected to be released by bus operators, including Arriva, closer to the time. The work on Anthonys Way roundabout forms the latest phase of improvements to reduce almost daily traffic jams leaving the estate in the evening rush-hour.
Measures have so far included the installation of manually controlled traffic lights approaching Medway Tunnel from Pier Road, which aim to create gaps in the flow of traffic during the evening peak period to allow easier exit from the estate. Additional loading and parking restrictions along Anthonys Way were also put in place in January 2019, as well as new CCTV cameras allowing the public to view real time traffic and plan their journeys. The junction upgrade is being completed by contractor Jackson Civil Engineering and will cost £1.7 million, which is mostly being covered by a grant from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP). Further information about the work can be found on Medway Council's website by clicking here.
Martin Aitken
1/3/2022 17:19:14
Update on Medway City road works..... Comments are closed.
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