M2 junction 5 improvements

[Brenley Corner]

Latest article and drone photos (December 2022) from Kent Online: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbou ... om-279927/

[Darren]

Latest article and drone photos (December 2022) from Kent Online: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbou ... om-279927/

If you fiddle with the picture URLs, you can get the higher-res version:

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/_media/img ... 6IZ8EH.jpg
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/_media/img ... 07ODE4.jpg
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/_media/img ... 24YZT1.jpg
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/_media/img ... QTJD63.jpg

and the "before" view:

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/_media/img ... 9AWHMG.jpg

[MotorwayGuy]

The radius of the coastbound off-slip looks extremely tight!

[Ben302]

The radius of the coastbound off-slip looks extremely tight!

I guess thats why it's been closed so they can excavate the bank and move it over otherwise it would be even tighter. At least the left turn will be physically segregated with an island and armco barrier. The radius is probably no tighter than what it was prevoiusly.although it looks quite an abrupt kink where it straightens into what will be the new Northbound entry slip onto the A249. Although like in the general arrangement drawing it will probably be featuring acres of hatching on the inside edge to lessen the radius of the curve. Also since the aerial shots were taken, barriers have gone in on the slip roads and the temporary tie ins have had their base layers put down ready for surfacing over the next couple of weekends.

[MotorwayGuy]

Interestingly enough the original roundabout was smaller here, the corners were cut (no pun intended) back in the 90s when the bypass was built, but as you say the new one is probably about the same and is protected.

[Ben302]

Announced today on Scheme page on National Highways website that the reopening has been pushed back again, to the 30th of January. The cold snap we are currently in means that the final surfacing layer and white lines can't be put down until it warms up. This is planned now for next week, aside from the final layer, the slips look complete and ready to open.

EDIT: Also noticed today whilst driving on both the M2 and M20 today that the VMS are displaying "M2 J5 COAST SLIPS CLOSED UNTIL 23RD JANUARY". Maybe the 23rd or January re-opening is still on the cards? Unlikely as no surfacing has taken place this week.

[Darren]

The radius of the coastbound off-slip looks extremely tight!

Here it is "in the flesh" - it does look tight! You can see how much bigger the new roundabout is, too, the traffic in the background is using the old roundabout.

(Picture from National Highways).

[Ben302]

I wonder how long those Arrow markers are going to last? I imagine not very long, unless it's marked in such a way to lessen the curve

[Brenley Corner]

I hope they provide some sort of lighting - temporary or permanent - on that new section of roundabout and slip road. It could be a bit treacherous for a few weeks at night as users get used to the new layout and the sharp turn.
As the weather remains cold, I can see the scheduled reopening on the 30th slipping back as well.

[Ben302]

I hope they provide some sort of lighting - temporary or permanent - on that new section of roundabout and slip road. It could be a bit treacherous for a few weeks at night as users get used to the new layout and the sharp turn.
As the weather remains cold, I can see the scheduled reopening on the 30th slipping back as well.

It's meant to be getting slightly milder by the weekend when they hope to do the final surfacing and lining works under the closure, however night time temps and more importantly surface temperatures have to be consistently above +3 degrees and above so the top layer of what will probably be SMA, has to cure. With night temps hovering about -2 to +2 at the moment, it looks like it may be pushed back further. As for lighting of the new section of slip road and roundabout, I hope they install some lighting on the temporary sections of road as I imagine they'll take some getting used to.

[Ben302]

Looks like the M2 coastbound slips are finally reopening on Monday 30th as planned. Went through this area today and the road looks complete with surfacing and lines painted and signs on the slips installed. The scheme page has also been updated, to include a layout plan of the new road layout. Looks like a fairly significant layout change on the western portion of the Stockbury roundabout is happening at the same time. Traffic using the new slips will access them via temporary links to and from the Stockbury roundabout and traffic heading Northbound away from the slips towards Sittingbourne get to use the segregated freeflow and rejoin the A249 via another temporary link.

[Ben302]

The Junction 5 coast bound slips finally reopened today and I used the exit slip to A249 North movement and I was impressed at what they'd actually achieved in the time it was closed. As you pass under the M2 on the slip road they've shifted the main line over by at least a carriageway's width and the left turn free-flow seems slightly less tight than before and it's slightly cambered so at least vehicles using it to turn left shouldn't have any issues. There's acres of hatching before the island starts so wrong-laners have plenty of time to change lanes. The temporary tie-in seem to be smooth enough too. The coastbound entry seems to be well aligned too with refreshed markings and full rebuild to 2 lanes plus full hard shoulder as what was there previously. The rest of the slips have been partially resurfaced and refreshed lines and barriers. Hopefully this means less traffic on the A2 for the time being.

[Darren]

A couple of photos, taken over the past couple of days (from a local Facebook group, where people just moan non-stop about the roads).

[Ben302]

A couple of photos, taken over the past couple of days (from a local Facebook group, where people just moan non-stop about the roads).

a249-1.jpg
a249-2.jpg

I visited this group today and noticed that there has been an update to the works programme posted there, although nothing on the scheme page as yet. according to the post, in May the new Oad street link road and the diversion of Maidstone road to Oad Street, will be opening and Oad street traffic will no longer have to cross over the Southbound A249, instead following a new link road back to Stockbury roundabout. Also to tie in the new link at the Maidstone Road end, they are going to close it from mid April for a month or so. In recent weeks, they've done a fair bit of work on the scheme including reconstructing the central reservation north of stockbury roundabout and including two stretches of concrete barrier and drainage. The new Southbound exit is awaiting its final surfacing and the flat-pack bridge is finished and theflyover support wall on the south side of Stockbury roundabout is being constructed. Also the aforementioned link roads are being tarmacked and kerb lines being laid. Before this all happens the Oad Street link will be used to temporarily take A249 Southbound traffic away from the roundabout with the northbound traffic moved to the existing southbound carriageway, for works to the southern side of the new flyover.

[AnOrdinarySABREUser]

I visited this group today and noticed that there has been an update to the works programme posted there, although nothing on the scheme page as yet. according to the post, in May the new Oad street link road and the diversion of Maidstone road to Oad Street, will be opening and Oad street traffic will no longer have to cross over the Southbound A249, instead following a new link road back to Stockbury roundabout.

From this, I presume that they plan to finish tarmacking the rest of the new roundabout once the new Oad Street link opens. Since the bridges still need to be moved to their final resting places over the new roundabout and that the retaining walls/embankments need to be finished, the new flyover and roundabout will probably be opened at roughly the same time. Given that this is going to be finished by late 2024/early 2025, a lot of progress is being made at this point in time despite the delays (especially after the one earlier this year). Looking forward to more updates on the scheme!

[Brenley Corner]

I visited this group today and noticed that there has been an update to the works programme posted there, although nothing on the scheme page as yet. according to the post, in May the new Oad street link road and the diversion of Maidstone road to Oad Street, will be opening and Oad street traffic will no longer have to cross over the Southbound A249, instead following a new link road back to Stockbury roundabout.

From this, I presume that they plan to finish tarmacking the rest of the new roundabout once the new Oad Street link opens. Since the bridges still need to be moved to their final resting places over the new roundabout and that the retaining walls/embankments need to be finished, the new flyover and roundabout will probably be opened at roughly the same time. Given that this is going to be finished by late 2024/early 2025, a lot of progress is being made at this point in time despite the delays (especially after the one earlier this year). Looking forward to more updates on the scheme!

As a regular user of the junction and not a civil engineering expert, I would say that the next major steps in order are likely to be:

- Open Oad Street link and close the Chestnut Street access to the roundabout
- Open the north facing sliproads (not currently possible as the new off slip crosses the existing Chestnut Street) - due "Spring 2023".
- Open the new northbound alignment south of the roundabout
- Start building the other flyover bridge supports (only the southernmost of the 4 is currently in construction) and start on embankments.
- Rebuild the southbound alignment south of the roundabout including the LAR for the properties.
- Complete the new roundabout to its new size and layout.
- Place the new flyover beams
- Open the flyover
- Finishing works

Just my thoughts; grateful for other opinions.

[Ben302]

I visited this group today and noticed that there has been an update to the works programme posted there, although nothing on the scheme page as yet. according to the post, in May the new Oad street link road and the diversion of Maidstone road to Oad Street, will be opening and Oad street traffic will no longer have to cross over the Southbound A249, instead following a new link road back to Stockbury roundabout.

From this, I presume that they plan to finish tarmacking the rest of the new roundabout once the new Oad Street link opens. Since the bridges still need to be moved to their final resting places over the new roundabout and that the retaining walls/embankments need to be finished, the new flyover and roundabout will probably be opened at roughly the same time. Given that this is going to be finished by late 2024/early 2025, a lot of progress is being made at this point in time despite the delays (especially after the one earlier this year). Looking forward to more updates on the scheme!

As a regular user of the junction and not a civil engineering expert, I would say that the next major steps in order are likely to be:

- Open Oad Street link and close the Chestnut Street access to the roundabout
- Open the north facing sliproads (not currently possible as the new off slip crosses the existing Chestnut Street) - due "Spring 2023".
- Open the new northbound alignment south of the roundabout
- Start building the other flyover bridge supports (only the southernmost of the 4 is currently in construction) and start on embankments.
- Rebuild the southbound alignment south of the roundabout including the LAR for the properties.
- Complete the new roundabout to its new size and layout.
- Place the new flyover beams
- Open the flyover
- Finishing works

Just my thoughts; grateful for other opinions.

I hope that#s the order they plan to do things but much of the planned phasing so far constructed has been altered (owing to factors like Op Brock and the recent cold weather) The original plan when reopening J5 was all traffic used the roundabout, which would inevitably have caused queues so they built the temporary freeflow onto the A249 North. Also they've progressed other aspects of the scheme normally which would be done nearer the end such as the concrete barrier works on the A249. On the scheme website it says that the Oad street link is being opened but for use by the main A249 southbound while I presume, they construct the embankment for the flyover which is starting to take shape alongside the existing A249.

[frediculous_biggs]

KentOnline have posted some new drone pictures of the progress:
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbou ... er-285805/

[Ben302]

The past few weeks have seen significant progress on this scheme with the new link from Maidstone road nearing completion with just final surfacing to be done, this is due to open mid June with the old road to stockbury roundabout finally being closed and removed (it's being kept in use as an emergency route, but closed to general traffic). It is being temporarily reopened in a couple of weeks while they tie in the new A249 Southbound exit slip to the main A249 and Stockbury roundabouts (this too is nearing completion with just final surfacing and barriers to install. South of the Stockbury roundabout the Oad Street link is being used by the Southbound A249 with the Northbound traffic using the Southbound carriageway while they start construction of the Southern approach to the flyover which is already taking shape as the precast segments forming the retaining walls are already 2 rows high in places. Elsewhere construction is progressing on the Northbound entry and exits for the A249 so that traffic will eventually run either side of the central area which will free it up for the flyover works.

[AnOrdinarySABREUser]

The new link road between Maidstone Road and Oad Street (north of the M2) opened six days ago on the 12th. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but recent aerial imagery from Google Maps suggests that provision has been provided for new development alomgside the new link road, and I'm quite disappointed yet not too surprised about it. Other than that, the scheme has been coming along quite nicely, and from the looks, the new roads and links associated with the A249 itself will hopefully open soon™.