A2260

Route

Crossing the railway

The A2260 is a link road to the new(ish) Northfleet bypass.

The road starts at traffic lights on the A226 bypass and heads roughly southwards. To the right is a large car park serving Ebbsfleet International station, which is accessed from the next set of traffic lights. The road then goes over the railway line (HS1). Although this part of the A2260 is S2 the bridge has been built as D2, presumably to allow for a future upgrade. The would-be southbound carriageway is not used, however.

The road continues across what appears to be waste ground to meet a roundabout and the old B259, which is now unclassified. Here the A2260 becomes D2 and follows that road's old alignment (heavily upgraded) as far as the next roundabout, where it meets the westbound slip roads on the A2 and an unclassified one-way link road to the B262. The next roundabout serves the eastbound slip roads. Some maps show the A2260 continuing along the one-way distributor as far as the next junction on the A2. At one time it did, as there was no eastbound access here, but following the upgrade of the A2 there is no longer any reason for the road to continue.

History

The A2260 number came into being in 1991 as a link from the western end of Gravesend to the A2 at Southfleet. The route was truncated when the A226 was rerouted along its northern section following construction of the Northfleet bypass. In 2007, following the construction of Ebbsfleet International station, the A2260 number was transferred onto a route further west to serve the station better, with the old road regaining its old number of the B262. Further upgrades to the A2 in the area have given the road its current route.