Stunning drone pictures have revealed the progress being made as part of the £92m revamp of one of Kent's busiest roundabouts, as newly designed slip roads prepare to open.

For the last four months, motorists travelling coast-bound along the M2 have been forced to follow diversions when heading for Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Maidstone, with the exit and entry to the A249 off limits at Junction 5.

But now, with just weeks until the remodelled link roads reopen, aerial images have captured the work carried out at the site since last October.

National Highways said it is making "good progress" with the construction of the new coast-bound slip roads.

The upgrade to the Stockbury roundabout, which was given the green light in June 2021 and includes a flyover for traffic heading to and from Maidstone and Sittingbourne, promises to cut queues on the congested A249.

As well as preparation work, which included diverting underground water pipes, electricity cables and phone lines, the newly tarmacked coast-bound slip-roads can now be seen from above.

Motorists will still have to use the roundabout to get onto the M2 towards Faversham from Maidstone.

But once the roadworks are finished drivers will be able to join the coastbound M2 via a new dedicated slip road.

It is one of two new slip roads being created with a left-turn for traffic travelling from the A249 southbound to the M2 London-bound and another left-turn from the A249 Sheppey-bound to the M2 coast-bound.

The coast-bound slip roads are set to open on Monday, January 23, 10 days later than initially promised.

A spokesman for National Highways said: "Unfortunately, due to the recent weather we’ve been unable to complete the final surfacing and white lining as originally planned.

"This means that we need to keep the slip roads closed for a little longer than we thought.

"We’re now planning to reopen the slip roads by Monday 23 January 2023, subject to weather conditions.

"We continue to work with the local authorities and emergency services while these, and any closures linked to the scheme, are in place."
Despite fears of a similar closure happening on the London-bound M2 slip roads when they are remodelled, Highways England has confirmed this is not the case.

The spokesman continued: "We understand there has been some talk about us closing the westbound slip roads for a solid block of time, as we have with the eastbound slips.

"This is not the case. We’re able to complete most of our work on these slips away from the carriageway, and you may have seen this work has started.

"We’ll still need some weekend and overnight closures to link the slips to the existing carriageway, install a new safety barrier, and carry out surfacing and white lining work.

"Details of these closures will be made available here once confirmed."
National Highways has announced the A249 Sheppey-bound, between the Stockbury roundabout and Bobbing, will be fully closed for the next eight weekends, starting on Friday, January 13.

They will start at 8pm each Friday and run until 5am on the Monday – with March 6 the final day.

More details can be found here.

During these closures, one of the two lanes will be closed on the A249 Maidstone-bound between Bobbing and the Stockbury roundabout.

For drivers wishing to head towards Sheppey from the Stockbury roundabout, there will be a diversion in place via Maidstone Road, Chestnut Street, and Sheppey Way.

This will bring you back to the A249 north-bound, where you can continue with your journey.

A National Highways spokesman added: "Closures keep drivers safe, and they also provide a safe working area for our team.

"Within the weekend closures, the team are carrying out various activities linked to our improvements of interchange.

"These include the installation of drainage pipes, gullies and chambers, which will manage surface water and prevent flooding preparing the ground and laying the foundations for a new safety barrier installation of safety barriers within the central reservation and clearance and preparation work for the base of the new Stockbury flyover north bridge."

It has been confirmed that in late spring 2023, the new Maidstone Road link and Oad Street link will open to traffic and temporarily take the A249 south-bound traffic.

When the project finishes in early 2024 the half a million tonnes of material excavated from the roundabout works are to be re-used on Sheppey where part of Queenborough is being raised to make an estate of new houses flood-proof.

The reopening of the M2 coast-bound slip roads comes as Operation Brock is to be deactivated this weekend.

The contraflow system has been in place on a 13-mile section of the M20 between Junctions 8 (for Maidstone) and 9 (at Ashford) over the Christmas period.

This week it was also announced that planned work on another multi-million pound road project has now been pushed back by three years by transport bosses to 2027.

Kent County Council (KCC) expected to begin work on £199 million upgrades to roundabouts on the A229 at Blue Bell Hill, between Maidstone and Medway, in 2024.