page_title: Medway
section_title: Roadways
hierarchical_section_title: Medway / Transport / Roadways
caption_attribution_description: The M2 junction 2 entry roundabout on the A228 and the M2 Motorway Bridge and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Bridge crossing the River Medway, viewed from Merrall's Shaw, Ranscombe Farm, Cuxton. On the far bank we see Borstal, Fort Borstal and the motorway snaking up the Nashenden Valley while the rail link proceeds in a more direct line. On the roundabout is a bus run by Arriva, serving the 151 route Chatham to West Malling. Camera location51°&#160;22′&#160;53.4″&#160;N, 0°&#160;28′&#160;01.2″&#160;EView this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap - Google Earth
context_page_description: Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in Kent in the region of South East England. It had a population in 2019 of 278,016. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County Council.
  Over half of the unitary authority area is rural in nature. Because of its strategic location by the major crossing of the River Medway, it has made a wide and significant contribution to Kent, and to England, dating back thousands of years, as evident in the siting of Watling Street by the Romans and by the Norman Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral and the Chatham naval dockyard and its associated defences.
  The main towns in the conurbation are: Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham. These are traditionally known as the Medway Towns. Many smaller towns and villages such as Frindsbury, Brompton, Walderslade, Luton, Wigmore etc., lie within the conurbation. Outside the urban area, the villages retain parish councils.
context_section_description: Watling Street (the A2), the Roman road between the Port of Dover on the English Channel and London, runs through Medway. This route became particularly congested and led to the building of the M2 to bypass the Medway Towns to the south in the 1960s and was subsequently widened extensively at the turn of the 21st century. The A2 through the Medway Towns varies from single carriageway to dual carriageway to "one way" systems. In places it deviates from the original route of Watling Street.
  The A2 leaves the main route (which bypasses Medway by either the Northern Relief Road — The A289 or the M2) at the Three Crutches junction. The road descends through Strood towards the river. During the descent, the road to Gravesend, the A226 joins. In Strood the High Street is bypassed by the one-way system to the north and south encircling the High Street. The A2 crosses the Medway via two bridges in a dual carriageway (see Rochester Bridge). One bridge is Victorian and in the position of the original Roman bridge. The second bridge is more recent and build upon the piers of the original London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) main line railway bridge (the Chatham Main Line uses the South Eastern Railways (SER)' branch line's bridge).
  In Rochester the High street is bypassed to the north by the dualled Corporation Street. The A2 then crosses the high street, climbs Star Hill and follows New road by Fort Pitt / Jackson's Field to bypass Chatham to the south (by the Station, via a flyover known as New Cut). As it approaches Luton it is a dual carriageway for a short stretch, where a major junction lies with the railway (Chatham Main line) passes overhead — this is known as Luton Arches. It then climbs Chatham Hill (to Gillingham) now has a separate bus lane. The A2 / Watling street traditionally bypasses central Gillingham which lies to the North. From the main road to Gillingham (Canterbury Street), the A2 is dual carriageway. Here the Northern Relief Road (A289) rejoins at the Will Adams roundabout. This is swiftly followed by the Bowater roundabout where the A278 Hoath Way leads to the M2 to the South, this is so named and distinctive because of the former paper mill Bowaters at this location that left a giant water tower. A large Tesco supermarket currently inhabits the site. As the road progresses into Rainham it becomes single carriageway again.
  Connecting Medway with neighbouring Gravesend is the A226. The leaves the A2 on the hill above Strood. It is a single carriageway A road.
  The A228 runs along the west bank of the Medway, through Strood. Intersecting the M2 at its second junction, crossing the A2 through the centre of Strood and meeting (and encompassing for a short stretch) the Northern Relief Road (A289). The road then carries on to the Isle of Grain. Throughout its passage through Strood it is single carriageway, but the stretches to the North are dualled partially toward Grain. The road to Grain was an accident black spot, this and increased traffic from the major port of Thamesport which is located to the north-west along the Medway Estuary prompted the construction of a new dual carriageway. The A228 Main Road to Ropers Lane project was provisionally approved by the government in December 2001. Design work started in March 2000 and in February 2004, contractors got under way with moving services such as water, gas and fuel pipes. This work was vital, as the pipes actually supply the Hoo Peninsula and the power station at Grain. The largest water main that was moved was 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter and the largest gas main 36 inches (914 mm). The road cost £19 million and is approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) long.
  The A229 starts from the A2 at the junction at the top of Star Hill alongside Jackson's Field / Fort Pitt, it follows City Way to the South where at Fort Horstead / Rochester Airport / Mid Kent College it meets the branch from Chatham (the A230 which starts at Chatham Station / New Cut). From here it continues south, becoming dual carriageway and meeting the M2 at its third junction, which also provides acc
caption: Junction Two of the M2 is on the A228, just before the Medway motorway bridge. Alongside is High Speed 1. Both are seen climbing up the Nashenden Valley, towards Bluebell Hill.
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