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Kent County Council to resurface Wateringbury crossroads on A26 Tonbridge Road

People living near a busy crossroads have been warned to expect a “significant level of noise” when resurfacing work gets under way.

Kent County Council (KCC) contractors will be working at the Wateringbury junction of the A26 Tonbridge Road, B2015 Bow Road and Red Hill from Monday (July 15).

The Wateringbury crossroads. Photo: Google Maps
The Wateringbury crossroads. Photo: Google Maps

The start date is set to crossover with emergency gas upgrades which have been planned by company SGN in consultation with KCC.

As part of these works, Bow Road has been closed at its junction with Tonbridge Road since Monday (July 8).

KCC’s resurfacing will begin from 8pm on Monday (July 15) and the council says it should take five nights to complete.

The work will take place overnight from 8pm until 5am, with the roads remaining open to traffic outside these hours.

In a notice sharing the closure information, KCC says: “Additional signage will also be positioned in advance of our closure points to assist in routing vehicles onto the diversion route instead of continuing towards the crossroads.”

SGN is carrying out further emergency gas works by Wateringbury Crossroads. Picture: Elli Hodgson
SGN is carrying out further emergency gas works by Wateringbury Crossroads. Picture: Elli Hodgson

The road closures for resurfacing work are:

A26 Tonbridge Road – Closed between Love Lane and Shell fuel station

B2015 Bow Road – Closed between Phoenix Drive and the A26 Tonbridge Road

Red Hill – Closed between Malling Road and the A26 Tonbridge Road

The diversion routes are:

Diversion between Mereworth/Tonbridge and Barming/Maidstone will be via Hermitage Lane, A20 London Road, A228 Ashton Way, A228 Malling Road and vice versa

Diversion between Nettlestead and Barming/Maidstone will be via Hermitage Lane, A20 London Road, A228 Ashton Way, A228 Malling Road, A26 Tonbridge Road, A228 Seven Mile Lane and vice versa

Further closures and diversion are set for Wateringbury crossroads. Picture: Elli Hodgson
Further closures and diversion are set for Wateringbury crossroads. Picture: Elli Hodgson

The notice from KCC also warns that “varying but significant levels of noise will be emitted” particularly during the preparation stage of the nightly works.

It also adds: “There will continue to be noise whilst the new surface is laid but this is generally more mobile and therefore intermittent.

“We do sympathise with and apologise for any disruption or inconvenience the level of noise may cause.”

The closures follow on from significant disruption last month when there were roadworks at Wateringbury crossroads from May 29 until June 10 for emergency gas works.

In a notice from KCC, it said: “Whilst the Wateringbury crossroads has been closed recently for roadworks purposes, this was for SGN to undertake works to resolve a gas leak.

The Wateringbury Crossroads had not been fully open for most of June. Picture: Elli Hodgson
The Wateringbury Crossroads had not been fully open for most of June. Picture: Elli Hodgson

“It would not have been possible for the resurfacing work to take place within this closure as the area of road excavated and being worked upon by SGN directly conflicted with the area we’ll be resurfacing.”

For the current SGN gas works, a diversion is in place for motorists via the A26 Tonbridge Road, Seven Mile Lane and Maidstone Road.

SGN has also closed Gibbs Hill at the junction with Maidstone Road, Nettlestead and Pizien Well Road at the junction with A26 Tonbridge Road.

SGN spokesperson Waseem Hanif said: “These junctions are closed for safety reasons to prevent the use of unsuitable narrow country roads as a diversion route.

“All going well, we aim to complete our work, reinstate the road surface and reopen all the roads as normal at the end of the day on Monday, July 15.”

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