The A249 Stockbury Flyover Tentatively Opens

Today (Thursday 11th July)  saw the tentative opening of the new £92m A249 Stockbury flyover between Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Maidstone helping to improve journey times and safety at this busy junction.

National Highways Project Manager, Dan Rollinson, told SFM News earlier: “Having started on site more than 1,000 days ago, we’re delighted to be opening the flyover ahead of this year’s summer holidays, helping traffic to flow smoothly around the area. And as the scheme has been delivered working closely with the local community, we wanted the first person on the flyover to reflect this.”

40-year-old local farm worker Matt Barnes, who lives in Borden and has been an avid backer of the scheme, was the first to drive his cultivation tractor on the new section of road as during the project Matt has been posting updates on a social media group which has 13,500 members.

He told SFM News: "National Highways and John Graham Construction have been extremely professional in both keeping traffic flowing, providing me with information to share with my thousands of followers interested in the work but most importantly looking out for the welfare of their staff, to get these works completed promptly but safely. It’s a real privilege to be the first over the new flyover – which, once fully open, will help ease the congestion at this junction.”

Project Manager, Dan Rollinson, went on to add: "There are some overnight closures on the A249 this week to allow us to paint new road markings. A lane is now open on the flyover for southbound traffic, and for northbound traffic from tomorrow (Friday 12th July) morning. We’ll be opening the other lanes in the coming weeks. Safety remains our top priority, so please drive carefully as you navigate the new layout. There’s still more work to do but we will continue to keep everyone updated. Thank you to everyone for your on-going patience while our team have carried out these improvements."

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