A busy slip road is set to shut for four months while work takes place on a multi-million-pound roundabout revamp.

Not only will parts of the A249 be closed overnight but the Sheppey-bound entry and exit slip will also be off-limits while improvements are carried out at the Grovehurst junction near Sittingbourne.

The £32.7 million revamp was given the green light by county councillors in March 2022.

The scheme will use the existing bridge but will replace the dumbbell design with a new one-way gyratory system incorporating a second bridge.

That will be built on the Sheppey side of the roundabout and include a cycleway and footpath linking to Iwade.

The bulk of the funds will come from a £38.1 million grant from the government's Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF). The rest will be paid for with contributions from housing developers.

On Monday, September 4, there will be a closure of the Maidstone-bound A249 carriageway from 8pm until 6am the following day.

Motorists wishing to use the route must follow the diversion via Grovehurst Road.

On Tuesday, September 5, there will be a closure of the Sheppey-bound A249 carriageway.

This will also be in place from 8pm until 6am the next day.

Finally, from 6am on Wednesday, September 6, the Sheppey-bound entry slip road and exit slip road closure will begin. That is set to stay in place until December.

The A249 Grovehurst Road Junction Northbound exit and entry slip roads will be closed until December 2023. The A249 Northbound mainline will then open with the lane 1 closure remaining in place until winter 2024.

At the same time, the A249 Sheppey-bound mainline will open with one lane closure remaining in place until winter 2024.

Conservative borough councillor for The Meads, James Hunt, said: “This is not a complete closure of the junction, as has been suggested elsewhere.

“You will still be able to use Grovehurst Road between Iwade and Kemsley, Swale Way, and the on and off slip on the Kemsley side of the junction. The easiest diversion route for the closure will be via the Kingsferry Bridge junction.

“Please note that Iwade has roadworks so will take longer if you cut through the village and it should be avoided.”

When plans for the roadworks were first revealed in July diversion routes were dismissed as “beyond a joke”.

Previously the Conservative Iwade councillor, Roger Clark, branded the diversion routes as a “terrible” thing for his ward.

He said: “These roadworks have been in the pipeline for ages.

“Although the roundabout is in desperate need of an update the works are going to make it difficult for the people living in Iwade.

“We’ll have to survive on traffic lights in the village, it’s beyond a joke.

“Anything the developers do will impact Iwade, it is going to be very congested. It’s going to be terrible for the area.”

However, unlike his colleague, cllr James Hunt explained that he didn’t think the traffic situation would be too dire.

He to KentOnline last month: “I understand that a lot of the work is actually going to be done away from the carriageway.

“So, unlike the backlog which was caused [previously] by slip closures near the Stockbury roundabout, I don’t think congestion will be that bad.

“However I could be wrong. The work is desperately needed and it is a good thing that it is happening but there will be disruptions.”