£69m A21 dualling will bring months of road diversions
A road leading to Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury will close tomorrow (Saturday) for up to six months.
Tonbridge Road will be shut between the A21 and the hospital while contractors work on expanding a section of the A road from a single to a dual carriageway.
In addition, the A21 will be closed in both directions overnight, between 8pm and 6am, on Saturday.
The overall scheme will cost £69.7 million, and as well as upgrading two-and-a-half miles of the road, improvements will be made to junctions.
Work started on the scheme in April 2015 and has already involved building new slip roads and removing a Grade II listed building, which will be rebuilt in a museum.
The current phase will see traffic moved on to those new slip roads so a flyover can be constructed at the Longfield Road junction and a junction created at Fairthorne. High- ways England hopes the whole scheme, being carried out by contractor Balfour Beatty, will be completed by the end of March 2017.
A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was working with contractors and the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to minimise disruption for patients.
He said: “We have communicated the diversions to staff and there are plans in place to facilitate an alternative route to the hospital for emergency vehicles in the unlikely event of the Pembury crossroads being closed due to unforeseen circumstances.
“We will continue to work closely with all our partners to minimise the impact this work will have on the service we provide and remind all road users to be aware of emergency vehicles negotiating any traffic in the area.”
A diversion will be in place via the A21 from the Longfield Road roundabout to the Pembury exit of the A264, on to the A228 and then the other end of Tonbridge Road, which remains open.
Highways England project manager Anne-Marie Palmer said: “This scheme will deliver huge benefits.
“We have achieved a lot so far and now we are ready for the next phase of the work. Once complete, this scheme will increase traffic capacity and improve safety.”