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A299

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A299
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (44)
Thanet Way
From:  Brenley Corner, Faversham (TR040598)
To:  Ramsgate Harbour (TR379641)
Distance:  24.1 miles (38.8 km)
Meets:  M2, A2, A2990, A290, A291, A28, A253, A256, A255, unclassified
Former Number(s):  A253
Old route now:  B2205, A2990, A255
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

Kent

Traditional Counties

Kent

Route outline (key)
A299 Brenley Corner - Ramsgate
A299 Herne Bay - Chislet - Upstreet

The A299 is one of the major roads in north Kent. It takes up the M2's baton just to the east of Faversham, and is now dual carriageway with graded junctions throughout virtually its entire length. Although a primary route, it's never been a trunk road as far as can be determined, which is surprising since it does for Margate and Ramsgate what the A127 does for Southend.

Route

Brenley Corner - Ramsgate

It's a fast road nowadays. Starting from M2 J7, the road bypasses Whitstable, Swalecliffe and Herne Bay, all of which it had bypassed before only to become clogged by ribbon development; the old road is now A2990 and beset with roundabouts. Just beyond Beltinge is the exit to Reculver, Roman Regulbium. At the junction was the pub where the cast of Only Fools and Horses stopped their bus on their 'jolly boys outing' to Margate. But that's now a private residence. It's quick and straight these days until the first roundabout since London, where the A28 Canterbury-Margate road crosses.

A299 / A28 roundabout

The next two miles to the Monkton roundabout are straight, after which there's a slight turn to the left on meeting the A253 and the road to Monkton. The next roundabout to the east provides the junction to the B2190 which did serve for Manston Airport before it closed. After which there's a newer build dual carriageway that reaches the Cliffsend Roundabout. It's a right turn at the roundabout to avoid Cliffsend and a further new build dual carriageway takes the route to another roundabout junction with the A256. A tiger tail makes the route free flowing coastbound.

The A299 briefly multiplexes with this road (although the A299 number is dominant), passing under the main Ashford - Ramsgate railway line. Thanet Parkway station has recently completed construction here and was opened in July 2023. On the reverse journey a traffic signal has been installed to allow the traffic to exit the station. There seems to be plenty of land to build a proper sliproad here, but I'm sure there are reaons why that wasn't done. The road continues up to the Lord of the Manor roundabout which marks the end of the dual carriageway. A short distance further takes us to yet another roundabout, where the A299 takes the third exit right, the old road into Ramsgate now having become the A255.

The final stretch of the A299 sweeps down to the new harbour through the Ramsgate Tunnel, 2,493 feet long through "low strength, highly discontinuous Cretaceous Upper Chalk", as the engineers inform us. At the far end the road virtually meets the sea, to terminate at the ferry port. However, since the suspension of ferry services in 2013 there is virtually nothing the driver can do from here. The entrance to the disused harbour is blocked with concrete slabs and the unclassified road ahead continues along the Ramsgate front but it contains a barrier further along to restrict traffic to those with a permit. It was reported that as of 2018 it appeared that the no-through-road signs that had been installed at the terminal roundabout have been bagged up and an escape, other than whence you came, was at least possible. However, as of December 2020, this possible escape route was once again clearly not available. So except for some commercial vehicles visiting the few businesses along this bit of the front, the end of the route is for nobody. There seems little alternative but to retrace your steps and the no-through-road signs should be shown before the tunnel. There is an extended parking bay on the left before the tunnel is reached again, so perhaps get some fresh air along the usually windy front before negotiating that again. This must currently be a candidate for the least trafficked and most pathetic end to a Primary Route in the country and a clear metaphor for what has gone wrong with it.

Original Author(s): Simon Mold

History

Original alignment of the A299 in 1932, before the Thanet Way was built

The original route of the A299 was a simple upgrade of a medley of 'B' roads, specifically the B2158, B2040 and B2045. It still started at Brenley Corner, but ran west of the current alignment, and then followed a zigzag course through Goodnestone, Graveney and Seasalter, before meeting the A290 at Whitstable and the A291 at Herne Bay. It then ran through Highstead and Chislet to terminate on the A28 at Upstreet, just before the historic site of the Wansum Channel.

The rerouting onto Thanet Way occurred in stages during the 1930s. The section from Herne Bay to the A28 near St Nicholas at Wade was the first to be built in 1933, followed by the section from Brenley Corner to Herne Bay in 1934 and 1935, and finally the section from the A28 to the A253 in 1939. The original road was wide single carriageway, (formerly S3), which was subsequently dualled or bypassed in the 1990s, the final section being Whitstable to Herne Bay in 1998.

The extension over the A253 to the Port of Ramsgate occurred around 2003, in order that a single number could be used for the route from the M2 to the ferry terminal. The dualling past Manston and the Cliffsend bypass opened in 2012.

Opening Dates

For the history and opening dates of the original Thanet Way which was opened between 1933 and 1939 see Thanet Way.

Dates for the modern dual carriageway road are as follows:

Year Section Notes
1992 Roman Galley Junction - Monkton Roundabout The 2.5 mile section from east of Roman Galley Junction, Little Grays to Monkton Roundabout was opened on 25 August 1992 by Ken Ranger, Chairman of County Council's Highways and Public Transport committee. Cost £6.4 million.
1998 Whitstable Bypass The 7.1 mile dualling and offline upgrade from A290 Clapham Hill Interchange to A291 Eddington Interchange opened on 29 May 1998. The official opening was by Roger Gale, North Thanet MP, and was reported by the Friday, 6 November 1998 East Kent Gazette as "on Friday", probably referring to 30 October 1998. This included the upgraded former Thanet Way (renumbered A2990) from Greenhill Roundabout to Eddington Interchange. It completed the dual carriageway link between M2 and the outskirts of Ramsgate. Contractor was Hochtief-Kier, contract price £65 million, total cost £190 million.


Links

Roads UK




A299
Junctions
Crossings
Roads
Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (44)
A299-A28.jpgPhilips MA50 on A299 - Coppermine - 19768.jpgKent Thanet before the Thanet Way - Coppermine - 474.JPGA299 tunnel under golf course.JPGCliffsend Underpass - Geograph - 3723958.jpg
Other nearby roads
Faversham
Ramsgate
A253 • A254 • A255 • A256 • A2006 • B2014 • B2050 • B2054 • Thanet Way
A200-A299
A200 • A201 • A202 • A203 • A204 • A205 • A206 • A207 • A208 • A209 • A210 • A211 • A212 • A213 • A214 • A215 • A216 • A217 • A218 • A219
A220 • A221 • A222 • A223 • A224 • A225 • A226 • A227 • A228 • A229 • A230 • A231 • A232 • A233 • A234 • A235 • A236 • A237 • A238 • A239
A240 • A241 • A242 • A243 • A244 • A245 • A246 • A247 • A248 • A249 • A250 • A251 • A252 • A253 • A254 • A255 • A256 • A257 • A258 • A259
A260 • A261 • A262 • A263 • A264 • A265 • A266 • A267 • A268 • A269 • A270 • A271 • A272 • A273 • A274 • A275 • A276 • A277 • A278 • A279
A280 • A281 • A282 • A283 • A284 • A285 • A286 • A287 • A288 • A289 • A290 • A291 • A292 • A293 • A294 • A295 • A296 • A297 • A298 • A299
Defunct Itineraries: A239 • A268 • A270 • A273 • A274 • A277 • A278 • A280 • A282 • A285 • A292(W) • A292(E) • A295


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