Delays to A249 major roadworks

The A249 improvement scheme is now scheduled to be completed by June 2025

Major roadworks on a main road in north Kent are to take six months longer than expected, a council has said.

The A249 Grovehurst Road improvement scheme, near Sittingbourne, is now scheduled for completion by June 2025 instead of by the end of 2024 as originally anticipated by Kent County Council (KCC).

The project, which began in September 2023, aims to improve the junction by installing a new second bridge over the main road.

KCC blamed the delay on the "constraints on the traffic management" as well as the need to "remove trapped reptiles found on site".

Based on current estimates, the northbound exit and entry slip roads, heading towards Sheppey, will reopen in August 2024, a KCC spokesperson said.

Traffic management on the A249 is due to be lifted in January 2025 and all other roadworks completed by May 2025.

Councillor Neil Baker, KCC's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "I understand the news of the delay will be disappointing to many."