A2

It was yet another afternoon / early evening of "gridlock" in Sittingbourne again today (Tuesday 2nd July) due to the continuing closure of the Kingsferry Bridge.

The bridge remains closed, for essential maintenance work by Network Rail, until 5am on Sunday (7th July). This will also be the case across the weekend of Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July and then another full week's closure from Saturday 20th July until Saturday 27th July.

Investigators are appealing for information following a collision involving a police vehicle in Teynham, near Sittingbourne over the weekend.

At 12.37am on Sunday (26th May), an officer driving a marked patrol car was responding to an urgent call with the vehicle’s sirens sounding and blue lights illuminated, when it was involved in a collision with a white Ford Focus on the A2 London Road.

Resurfacing work will close part of the A2 London Road in Teynham overnight for 11 nights, from today (Tuesday 20th June), meaning a lengthy diversion via the M2 for motorists travelling between Sittingbourne and Faversham.

A section of A2 London Road in Teynham, between Cellar Hill and the Fowler Welch Distribution Centre, will be inaccessible between 8pm and 5am with a diversion in place.

The official diversion route is via the A249, M2, A251 Ashford Road and finally back onto the A2 London Road with the reverse in the other direction (Londonbound).

A major Sittingbourne juncion, on the A2 Canterbury Road at Snipes Hill, is set for weeks of disruption due to telcoms roadworks.

Contractors for City Fibre are installing new super fast broadband infrastructure at the busy junction of Canterbury Road, Murston Road and Rectory Road and one lane is open through the works with 4-way traffic lights controlling the traffic.

The works are expected to last until the end of May and have caused delays, especially during 'peak' hours, of around 10-15 minutes in the area.

Witnesses are being sought by Kent Police after a man suffered serious injuries in a collision near Faversham yesterday (Monday 15th February).

At around 3.45pm yesterday afternoon a white Vauxhall Astra van was travelling along the A2 London Road from Faversham towards the Brenley Corner roundabout when it was involved in a collision with a pedestrian.

The pedestrian sustained serious injuries and was flown by the Kent Air Ambulance to a London hospital, where he remains in a critical condition. The van driver was not injured.

Kent Police collision investigators are appealing for information following the death of a pedestrian in Sittingbourne.

The victim, a 16-year-old girl, died on Wednesday (4th November) following the collision which happened last Sunday 1st November on the A2 Canterbury Road at the junction with Murston Road.

The teenager was crossing Canterbury Road from the direction of Rectory Road when she was involved in a collision with a silver Vauxhall Zafira at around 6.25pm in the evening.

The victim was taken to a London hospital with serious injuries where she later died.

Picture: Richard Palmer

Kent Police have had to closed the A2 at Newington due to a 'major' gas leak.

The road closure comes just a day after residents received a letter saying that months of roadworks along that stretch of road were finally finished and that the area would be 'getting back to normal'.

London Road is currently CLOSED between Playstool Road and Bull Lane, causing lengthy tailbacks on to Keycol Hill (coming from Sittingbourne) and back to Hartlip (coming from the Medway towns). 

The major roadworks, for the town centre regeneration, have commenced and will be in place until late September / early October.

The A2 St Michael's Road and B2008 Milton Road are partially closed for the next 17 weeks. The affected area on the A2 St Michael's Road is between the junction with Dover Street and Station Street.

Picture: Jake Burmingham

A teenager who killed his friend while speeding in a pickup truck has been jailed for four years.

Kieran Simpson, 18, of Gladwyn Road, Rainham, was jailed on Friday (16th March) by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court.

He was sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to one count of causing death by dangerous driving after his friend died in a collision on the A2 on London Road in Newington.

A large pothole has appeared on the main A2 (Canterbury Road) heading out of town between the Snipeshill and Swanstree Avenue traffic lights.

The hole appeared earlier today and is currently being investigated by the KCC Highways Team who are waiting for Southern Water to CCTV the sewer below the main carriageway, later this afternoon.

KCC Highways have confirmed that: "if it is found to be a water pipe that has caused it, it will be handed over to them to fix".