Work to revamp a major junction in Kent is almost complete, two years after the project to upgrade to the Grovehurst roundabout on the A249 was supposed to be finished.
Kent County Council (KCC) contracted Jackson Civil Engineering to turn the dumbbell junction between Iwade and Kemsley, into a two-bridge system in September 2023 and was part of the authority’s £38.1 million project to increase road capacity in the Sittingbourne area ahead of major house building, says Kent Online.
More than 4,600 homes are due to be built along the A249 from the junction with the M2 at Stockbury roundabout to the Sheppey Crossing. The plan also included a revamp of the Key Street roundabout in Bobbing.
Work started on that in January last year and ended in April, but the expansion of Grovehurst roundabout has been bogged down in delays and is more than £280,000 over budget.
It was supposed to be finished in June 2024, but on three separate occasions, KCC has had to announce delays. The first was in May 2024, when “issues trapping reptiles” were among the reasons why it would not be completed on time.
Then in April 2025, KCC said that due to issues around the “construction complexity”, engineers would need until after the summer to conclude the works.
In September, it said “complications in the planning, poor weather conditions” at the start of the build, and work on the surrounding roads had caused delays.
(Picture: Mapillary)
