Drone pictures have revealed the chaos caused by a busy motorway slip closure that has reduced a dual carriageway to just one lane.
Aerial photos of Sheppey-bound traffic travelling on the A249 from Maidstone to Sittingbourne revealed six-mile queues all the way from the M20 Junction 7 roundabout near Detling Hill to the Stockbury Roundabout.
However, motorists travelling on the A-road will be pleased to hear that National Highways’ closure of the M2 Junction 5 coast-bound slip is almost over.
The motorway slip road has been shut for almost a month by Graham, the contractors working on the multi-million pound Stockbury Roundabout scheme alongside National Highways.
This has meant drivers have not been able to exit the M2 coastbound at Junction 5 for Sittingbourne.
The slip road - along with a lane on the A249 Sheppey-bound from Stockbury Roundabout towards Key Street - will reopen on Monday, June 10 at 5am.
The M2 Junction 5 coastbound exit slip is currently closed. It is due to reopen at 5am, June 10.
The closure has been in place to allow contractors to extend the A249 Sittingbourne-bound carriageway.
When completed space will be provided for traffic coming from the Stockbury Roundabout and M2 coastbound to safely merge with traffic from the flyover.
However, while the closure was in place, a diversion was planned for drivers to exit the M2 at Blue Bell Hill and follow the A229, M20 and A249 to access the Stockbury Roundabout.
But this caused hour-long delays in the area.
Photos taken from the sky at around 5.30pm on Monday, June 3, show traffic queuing back for miles along the A249 in a single lane while work continues on the new flyover which National HIghways promises will ease congestion once completed.
Although National Highways has previously been able to work on the closed section by closing the M2 coastbound to the A249 Sittingbourne-bound dedicated link with all traffic going to the roundabout it was not appropriate on this occasion.
This is because this can cause queues on the M2 and for safety reasons, National Highways had to make the decision to fully close the slip while completing the work.
On June 10 and 11 a lane will be closed on the A249 northbound, towards Sittingbourne, between Church Hill and the Stockbury Roundabout between 8pm and 5am each night while we install cables under the carriageway.
The dedicated slip road to the M2 coastbound from the A249 south of the roundabout will also be closed, please use the Stockbury Roundabout to join the M2 coastbound.
Between Wednesday, June 12 and Tuesday, June 18, the A249 southbound towards Maidstone will be closed between the Bobbing and Stockbury Roundabouts from 8pm to 5am each night while we prepare the carriageway for the opening of the Stockbury flyover in July.
During the closure, a diversion will be in place via Sheppey Way, A2, Hoath Way, and M2 J5. Non-motorway traffic please use Sheppey Way, A2, A229, A249.
On Friday, July 5, Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7, the A249 northbound between the Stockbury and Key Street Roundabouts will be closed from 8pm to 5am each night while we prepare for the opening of the Stockbury flyover later in July.
During the closure, a diversion will be in place via the M2, Hoath Way, A2, Sheppey Way and A249. Non-motorway traffic please use the A249, A229, A2, Sheppey Way and A249.
In April highway bosses confirmed, if all goes well, the £92 million Stockbury Flyover will be available to traffic in July.
National Highways’ M2 Junction 5 project manager, Daniel Rollinson, said at the time: “He said: “Anybody who’s driven through the scheme, particularly in the last nine to 12 months, would have seen a lot of change, specifically with the flyover itself.
“The flyover is now complete, so the retaining walls are done and we’re just doing the curbing now and then we’ve got to actually build the road layers before it is available for traffic to use.
“We're aiming to open the flyover itself to traffic sort of July, early July to mid-July.”
