It was good to be onsite this week and to see first-hand the progress on M20 Junction 10a project.

The delivery of the project is taking shape on the ground, following substantive works having been completed on the new motorway gyratory over the M20. This gyratory will comprise two bridges known as the East and West Interchange Bridges.

The installation of the steel beams for the bridges has been completed; the East Interchange Bridge went in earlier in January and the West Interchange Bridge installation was completed last weekend.

These installations mark a significant milestone for the project and we’d like to thank you for your continued support.

The Scheme

The M20 is an international route and is used by large volumes of heavy goods and holiday traffic. Long distance traffic from the M20, A20 and A2070 (south of Ashford) conflicts with local traffic from Hythe Road and Kennington Road.

It is predicted that the existing M20 junction 10 will suffer from congestion and long delays in the future if additional capacity is not created.

The new Junction 10a is proposed around 700m east of the existing Junction 10. It will use two bridges and connect to the existing A20 and a new dual carriageway link road built to the A2070 near Sevington.

The new Junction 10a in Ashford will be paid for by the transport authority and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), a public and private sector body which tells the government where to spend money to boost the county’s economy.

The scheme will be open to traffic in autumn 2019 and will be fully delivered, including landscaping, in summer 2020.

Scheme in detail

A new M20 junction 10A, 700 metres south east of junction 10, will include the following:

• a new roundabout over the motorway
• new slip roads
• a new link road to the A2070 Bad Munstereifel Road, with traffic signals on parts of the junction and two 3-lane bridges
• removal of the east facing slip roads at the existing junction 10
• A20 Hythe Road incorporated in the new junction so that the traffic in both directions can travel via the new roundabout
• a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the M20 from Kingsford Street to the A20, demolishing the existing Highfield Lane Bridge
• replacement of Church Road footbridge over the A2070

Aims

• The aims of this scheme are to:
• provide infrastructure to support development in the Ashford area
• help separate long distance traffic from local traffic
• reduce congestion and improve journey time reliability
• improve road safety
• improve noise and air quality for properties to the west of A2070
• provide safer crossings over the M20 for pedestrians and cyclists via a new footbridge

Find out more about the scheme here

Local Growth Fund

The £19.7m allocation for M20 Junction 10a is part of SELEP’s Growth Deal with Government which has brought nearly £600m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock and over the lifetime of the Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes.

Find out more