A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

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A303Chris
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A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by A303Chris »

This question has been bugging me for a while and it is now really bugging me with a work scheme in the area.

Why is the A249 a trunk road between the Sheerness Port and the M2, but the next six miles down to the M20 via Detling Hill isn't.

If going from the port to the south or west of London and using the the M23,M3,A3, M4, M40 from Sheerness you would continue on the A249 down to junction 7 of the M20.

In fact westbound on the M2 approaching junction 5, The WEST (M20, M25) is signed via the A249.

And while there are no signs to Ramsgate on the M20 eastbound, the RCS after J6 obviously has measured the distance along the A249 / M2.

Given the road is dual carriageway and the proposals for improvements to J5 M2 at Stockbury will provide a free flow link from the A249 under the roundabout, it seems even more weird it is not trunk.

Anyone know why?
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KeithW
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by KeithW »

The simplest answer is that the number of trunk roads have been drastically reduced in recent years, setting aside the motorways the only roads on Kent that are trunk are the A2, A20, A249 and the A2070/A259 route from Ashford to Hastings, I suspect the only reason the A249 section remains trunk the that it leads to the port at Sheerness. We have a similar situation with the A174 and A1053 being trunk between the A19 and Teesport

If any road in Kent needs to be trunked ASAP its the A229 from the M20 at Maidstone to the M2 as it will become a major feeder to the LTC.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by Steven »

A303Chris wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 15:02 Anyone know why?
It used to be.

SABRE Maps shows that the road was Trunked at some point between November 1966 and July 1967 - the dates of the 1967 and 1968 Route Planning Maps respectively, where Trunk Roads were shown by having their numbers printed in black. That timeframe also matches the point it was completely dualled between the M2 and the then-A20(M) so it was quite possibly Trunked upon completion.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by Ritchie333 »

The A249 has never been trunk between the M20 and M2. The section north of the M2 to the A2 was trunked in July 1979, and the remainder to Sheerness in October 1983. (source) As for why it's not trunk - the standard of road at Detling Hill and Jade's Crossing (particularly southbound) isn't up to scratch and there are alternative long-distance routes.

The section from the M20 to Detling Hill, including the village bypass, opened in 1962. The remainder to the M2 was dualled online in 1967.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by Steven »

Ritchie333 wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:14 The A249 has never been trunk between the M20 and M2.
That's not what the source says if I'm reading it right. It says that it was a principal road at the time of writing of that source (1988), but it does not say that it wasn't trunk before or after that.
South of the M2, the A249 is the responsibility of Kent county council.
It isn't shown in the trunk road maps in "National Roads: England 1985", so it doesn't seem to have been trunk then either.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by KeithW »

Ritchie333 wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:14 The A249 has never been trunk between the M20 and M2. The section north of the M2 to the A2 was trunked in July 1979, and the remainder to Sheerness in October 1983. (source) As for why it's not trunk - the standard of road at Detling Hill and Jade's Crossing (particularly southbound) isn't up to scratch and there are alternative long-distance routes.

The section from the M20 to Detling Hill, including the village bypass, opened in 1962. The remainder to the M2 was dualled online in 1967.

It is the perceived importance of the route not the standard of the road that makes a road trunk. This IS a trunk road.
'https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.92817 ... 312!8i6656

Note that the similar A229 between the M2 and M20 is not trunk either, they are link roads not strategic routes between major destinations. Now I happen to believe the A229 in particular ought to be trunk but that does not seem to be how it works.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by Peter350 »

Steven wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 17:39
A303Chris wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 15:02 Anyone know why?
It used to be.

SABRE Maps shows that the road was Trunked at some point between November 1966 and July 1967 - the dates of the 1967 and 1968 Route Planning Maps respectively, where Trunk Roads were shown by having their numbers printed in black.
If you’re going by that logic, then every primary route would have also been a trunk road, which was clearly incorrect in the years the maps in question were published.

Edit: this only applies to the 1968 route planning map and later. The 1967 RP map shows non-trunk primary route numbers in red, including the A249 which confirms that that route was not trunk back then.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by Steven »

Peter350 wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 14:00
Edit: this only applies to the 1968 route planning map and later. The 1967 RP map shows non-trunk primary route numbers in red, including the A249 which confirms that that route was not trunk back then.
Yes, you're right - I saw the black text and didn't realise that the meaning had changed between the two.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by jackal »

A "Binbury Park Garden Village" is proposed north east of Detling Showground, with 1,750 homes and various amenities. It would include a new dumbbell junction on the A249. See plan here:

https://pa.midkent.gov.uk/online-applic ... 182033.pdf

Planning application:

https://pa.midkent.gov.uk/online-applic ... T1STYN0T00

Highways England report, focusing especially on effects at M2 J7, which is proposed for minor improvements as part of the scheme:

https://pa.midkent.gov.uk/online-applic ... 251013.pdf

The HE report mentions that there is 46,101 AADT on this section of A249, which is indeed a lot for a non-trunk road, though it's not unusual in the south east.
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Re: A249 - Why isn't it Trunked between the M2 and M20

Post by jackal »

Binbury Park Garden Village was rejected by councillors in April 2022: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbou ... ed-264925/
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