M20 Maidstone Bypass History

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A303Chris
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M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by A303Chris »

I was down in Maidstone yesterday and I got thinking about the Maidstone bypass when was it widened from 2 to firstly 3 lanes.

I know the first section was from Junction 5 to junction 8 and was opened in the early 60's and was the A20(M) and was two lanes.

I then know during the 70's it was extended west and junction 5 became a fully trumpet and west of here was 3 lanes.

I then know in the 80's, J9 to J13 was built and the missing gap opened early 90's before the channel tunnel.

I also know in the earlier 00's that J5 to J7 was widened to 4 lanes with local distributors and J5 turned from a trumpet to a roundabout, but I don't know when the original bypass was widened to three lanes.

I recall going to Dover in 1984 and I thought it was three lanes to J7 and then two lanes to J8 where it ended. We came back A2/M2/A249 and I just can't remember.

Does anyone know the actual widening time line?
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by RichardA35 »

A303Chris wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 13:34 I was down in Maidstone yesterday and I got thinking about the Maidstone bypass when was it widened from 2 to firstly 3 lanes.

I know the first section was from Junction 5 to junction 8 and was opened in the early 60's and was the A20(M) and was two lanes.

I then know during the 70's it was extended west and junction 5 became a fully trumpet and west of here was 3 lanes.

I then know in the 80's, J9 to J13 was built and the missing gap opened early 90's before the channel tunnel.

I also know in the earlier 00's that J5 to J7 was widened to 4 lanes with local distributors and J5 turned from a trumpet to a roundabout, but I don't know when the original bypass was widened to three lanes.

I recall going to Dover in 1984 and I thought it was three lanes to J7 and then two lanes to J8 where it ended. We came back A2/M2/A249 and I just can't remember.

Does anyone know the actual widening time line?
It may be my memory but wasn't the widening in the 90's only from D2M to D3M + collector distributors and the current smart motorway is making this effectively a 4 lane stretch?
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by MotorwayPlannerM21 »

RichardA35 wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 14:32 It may be my memory but wasn't the widening in the 90's only from D2M to D3M + collector distributors and the current smart motorway is making this effectively a 4 lane stretch?
It's currently D3M up to junction 5, then D3M+2M between J5 and J6, and finally D4M between J6 and J7. The smart motorway will be between J3 (M26) and J5, where the c/d lanes begin. J5 to 7 will remain as is.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by Ritchie333 »

The Maidstone Bypass was originally planned as an all purpose D2 road in the late 1930s. The junction with the A249 would have been an at-grade roundabout; the A229 would have been grade-separated. The other two junctions with the A20 were terminal roundabouts. Like many schemes, it was shelved because of the war and not restarted until the late 1950s, by which time the MOT could consider an argument to upgrading the project to motorway.

The original bypass opened as a 2-lane motorway in 1960. It was widened in 1990, in preparation for the 3-lane section from junction 8 to 9 then under construction, which was part of the transport preparation works for the Channel Tunnel.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by A303Chris »

Ritchie333 wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 16:55
The original bypass opened as a 2-lane motorway in 1960. It was widened in 1990, in preparation for the 3-lane section from junction 8 to 9 then under construction, which was part of the transport preparation works for the Channel Tunnel.
Thanks Richie didn’t know that. So previously there was a lane drop at J5 , so it was three lanes to J5 then 2 lanes to J8. Must have been like that in 1984 when I was going to Dover with parents as a teenager but could never remember it. So it was only 10 years after it was widened between J5 and J8 then it was widened again
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by SouthWest Philip »

A303Chris wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 19:34 So it was only 10 years after it was widened between J5 and J8 then it was widened again
I'm pretty sure (but am happy to be corrected if wrong) that the whole widening scheme, including the full remodelling of jncs 5, 6 & 7 and provision of parallel carriageways through jncs 5 to 6, dates from the early 1990s. The road was only widened once.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by KeithW »

The big question about the M20 for me is why did they not build the section from the eastern end of the Maidstone Bypass to Ashford but built the Ashford to Folkestone section ?

In the early 1980's the Maidstone bypass really not that busy as between it and Ashford you had an S2 road. It was if the Ministry of Transport could not make their mind up.

The London end and central part of the M2 were built to motorway standards but the Kent coastal part was left unimproved
The Maidstone bypass and Kent coastal section of the M20 were built but the middle part was left unfinished.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by Simon_GNR »

I've never driven on any part of the M20 - never had any reason to. One question for those who know the road - does the original section that was once the A20(M) have any remaining visible signs that it was one of the earliest motorways in Britain (as the some of the M1 south of junction 18 still does), or is it like the M6 Preston bypass with just about all traces of the original road having been obliterated by later widening etc?
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by M4Simon »

SouthWest Philip wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 21:09
A303Chris wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 19:34 So it was only 10 years after it was widened between J5 and J8 then it was widened again
I'm pretty sure (but am happy to be corrected if wrong) that the whole widening scheme, including the full remodelling of jncs 5, 6 & 7 and provision of parallel carriageways through jncs 5 to 6, dates from the early 1990s. The road was only widened once.
This is correct. It would have been under construction in 1993 as I went on a site visit there when I was working on another widening scheme on the M1.

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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by A303Chris »

M4Simon wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 06:49
SouthWest Philip wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 21:09
A303Chris wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 19:34 So it was only 10 years after it was widened between J5 and J8 then it was widened again
I'm pretty sure (but am happy to be corrected if wrong) that the whole widening scheme, including the full remodelling of jncs 5, 6 & 7 and provision of parallel carriageways through jncs 5 to 6, dates from the early 1990s. The road was only widened once.
This is correct. It would have been under construction in 1993 as I went on a site visit there when I was working on another widening scheme on the M1.

Simon
Never knew that, but that was the time when we didn't do improvement schemes on the cheap!!!
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by MotorwayPlannerM21 »

Simon_GNR wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 22:01 I've never driven on any part of the M20 - never had any reason to. One question for those who know the road - does the original section that was once the A20(M) have any remaining visible signs that it was one of the earliest motorways in Britain (as the some of the M1 south of junction 18 still does), or is it like the M6 Preston bypass with just about all traces of the original road having been obliterated by later widening etc?
At junction 8, there is a spur to the M20 which was part of the original bypass. A notable feature is the bridge that carries A20 E/B traffic over the spur, bypassing the roundabout with it, as it was originally just a fork (I think).
You can also kind of trace the line of the original motorway at the motorway roundabout here (streetview)

As for signs of being one of the earliest, I don't think there are any that specifically suggest it was an early motorway.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

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MotorwayPlannerM21 wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:22
Simon_GNR wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 22:01 I've never driven on any part of the M20 - never had any reason to. One question for those who know the road - does the original section that was once the A20(M) have any remaining visible signs that it was one of the earliest motorways in Britain (as the some of the M1 south of junction 18 still does), or is it like the M6 Preston bypass with just about all traces of the original road having been obliterated by later widening etc?
At junction 8, there is a spur to the M20 which was part of the original bypass. A notable feature is the bridge that carries A20 E/B traffic over the spur, bypassing the roundabout with it, as it was originally just a fork (I think).
You can also kind of trace the line of the original motorway at the motorway roundabout here (streetview)

As for signs of being one of the earliest, I don't think there are any that specifically suggest it was an early motorway.
Most of it has gone, yes... However, the old bridge with brick wall barriers here carries the London bound carriageway over the railway while the Folkestone bound carriageway uses the newer bridge behind.

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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by MotorwayPlannerM21 »

There is, of course, a similar situation when the motorway crosses the River Medway. One of them is the old one -- I think it's the Londonbound carriageway(s) as, looking on Google Maps, the parallel c/d doesn't have a hard shoulder here.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

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M4Simon wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 06:49
SouthWest Philip wrote: Thu Nov 22, 2018 21:09 I'm pretty sure (but am happy to be corrected if wrong) that the whole widening scheme, including the full remodelling of jncs 5, 6 & 7 and provision of parallel carriageways through jncs 5 to 6, dates from the early 1990s. The road was only widened once.
This is correct. It would have been under construction in 1993 as I went on a site visit there when I was working on another widening scheme on the M1.
If it's of any interest for dating purposes, this thread had me reaching for the archives of the band I was in back then.

On 27th March 1993, we played a gig at the Dolphin Hotel in Herne Bay. Two memories of it stick out in my mind - the first was driving along the Maidstone bypass on our way to the Detling Hill turn and the utter chaos of the huge amount of roadworks, which was the widening taking place (little did I know then that five years later I'd be living close to Junction 8 and the Maidstone bypass would be a twice daily companion).

The other memory, incidentally, is being pulled over by Kent Constabulary's finest much later, on the way back, who for some unfathomable reason thought there might be something vaguely dubious about three rough-looking blokes driving around during the small hours in a bright pink Bedford van with 'OINK' painted on the sides, with a load of musical instruments and amplifiers in the back :laugh:
MotorwayPlannerM21 wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:22 At junction 8, there is a spur to the M20 which was part of the original bypass. A notable feature is the bridge that carries A20 E/B traffic over the spur, bypassing the roundabout with it, as it was originally just a fork (I think).
All the time I lived there I wondered why there was both a roundabout and a bridge! When returning from Maidstone shopping trips I usually used the bridge but sometimes, just for a change, used the roundabout :)
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

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MotorwayPlannerM21 wrote: Fri Nov 23, 2018 15:56 There is, of course, a similar situation when the motorway crosses the River Medway. One of them is the old one -- I think it's the Londonbound carriageway(s) as, looking on Google Maps, the parallel c/d doesn't have a hard shoulder here.
Yes, it's the London bound one. The design differences from the underneath are also a giveaway
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by jackal »

You can see the whole A20(M) in 1960 on Google Earth, courtesy of Kent CC.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

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jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 13:23 You can see the whole A20(M) in 1960 on Google Earth, courtesy of Kent CC.
Also in 1990. Great for comparisons.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by Sunil_of_Yoxley »

jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 13:23 You can see the whole A20(M) in 1960 on Google Earth, courtesy of Kent CC.
Don't forget the other A20(M) between Kidbrooke and Swanley (presumably), whose western end wasn't actually built (flowing directly onto the East Cross Route).
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

Post by Chris5156 »

Sunil_of_Yoxley wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 20:34
jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 13:23 You can see the whole A20(M) in 1960 on Google Earth, courtesy of Kent CC.
Don't forget the other A20(M) between Kidbrooke and Swanley (presumably), whose western end wasn't actually built (flowing directly onto the East Cross Route).
The eastern end of the A20(M) is a bit of an unknown, but it's not likely to have ever been planned beyond the start of the Sidcup Bypass. That's for the simple reason that it was a GLC scheme, and the GLC only had responsibility for the A20 within the old LCC boundary, which lies a little way west of the western end of the Sidcup Bypass. The Sidcup Bypass itself and everything east of there was a trunk road and the Ministry of Transport would have had their own improvement plans.
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Re: M20 Maidstone Bypass History

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jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 13:23 You can see the whole A20(M) in 1960 on Google Earth, courtesy of Kent CC.
how may i ask
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