A229 Blue Bell Hill

The A229 Blue Bell Hill stretches between Junction 6 of the M20 in Maidstone and Junction 3 of the M2 at Blue Bell Hill village. This section of road is a key strategic link between the M20 and M2, and between Maidstone and Medway.

We are making improvements to:

increase journey time reliability
reduce delays
enhance the road safety on the route.

What will change

This scheme is still in an early phase of design. We are still finishing the modelling and assessment work to finalise the design. The design will meet the scheme's objectives.

In September 2020, we held a consultation to ask for feedback on 3 possible options. Based on feedback and more development, options 1 and 2 were chosen for further investigation. We dropped option 3 from the proposals. View the 2020 consultation brochure below to see the 3 designs.

After further review, option 1 is no longer a workable choice. This is due to the traffic now being forecast for Taddington Roundabout (M2 Junction 3).

A new option was then developed, which includes:

a direct link from the M2 Dover-bound to Blue Bell Hill towards Maidstone. This offers more traffic capacity for those using the Lord Leeds and Taddington roundabouts. It also removes the need for an extra bridge over the M2 at Taddington Roundabout.
improvements to the existing traffic signal junction at A2045 Walderslade Woods instead of a roundabout.

Why we're making the changes

This scheme is needed to:

tackle high levels of congestion
support concerns about road safety
improve poor air quality
support local growth and extra traffic from the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC).

The aim of the scheme is to improve journey time reliability and road safety. This will allow the road to accommodate an increase in future traffic. We expect this is as a result of the Lower Thames Crossing and proposed local developments. We also want to provide suitable routes and facilities for public transport, pedestrians and cyclists.

The preferred scheme

The tables below summarise the key design proposals. Including whether we have carried them forward from option 1 or whether they are new.

Comparison of whether the design proposals for the M2 end of Blue Bell Hill were carried forward from option one or are new to the preferred scheme
Location	Carried forward from option 1	New preferred scheme
Improvements to the Lord Lees Roundabout and Maidstone bound slip roads on Blue Bell Hill	Included	Included
A new separate left turn lane from the M2 London bound to Taddington Roundabout	Included	Included
A new slip road onto the M2 London bound from Blue Bell Hill Chatham bound	Included	Included
A new slip road from the M2 Dover bound to Blue Bell Hill Maidstone bound	-	Included
Closure of the A229 link roads between Bridgewood and Lord Lees roundabouts	-	Included
Improvements to the existing traffic signal junctions at A2045 Walderslade Woods	-	Included
Widen the A2045 approach to the Taddington Roundabout to 3 lanes	-	Included
Widening of the existing A229 Maidstone bound under Lord Lees Roundabout to 2 lanes	-	Included
New A229 link from the Bridgewood flyover to Lord Lees Roundabout	-	Included
Lord Lees Roundabout made larger to accommodate the new A229 route	-	Included

Comparison of whether a third lane, new link to Rochester Road or changes to the existing petrol station on Blue Bell Hill will be carried forward from option one or are new to the preferred scheme
Location	Carried forward from option 1	New preferred scheme
Add a third lane to Blue Bell Hill Maidstone bound (between Lord Lees and Cobtree roundabouts)	Included	Included
New link at Rochester Road to access Blue Bell Hill towards Maidstone and Chatham Road (Sandling)	-	Included
New arrangements for exiting the petrol station onto Blue Bell Hill	-	Included

Comparison of whether changes requested in the direction from Medway to Maidstone will be carried forward from option one or are new to the preferred scheme
Location	Carried forward from option 1	New preferred scheme
Running Horse Roundabout layout made larger	Included	Included
Widen the slip road to 2 lanes onto the M20 Dover bound from Cobtree Roundabout	Included	Included
New slip road onto M20 Dover bound carriageway	Included	Included

The full preferred scheme plans can be found in the scheme documents section below.

Latest updates

Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation. Visit Lets Talk Kent to read the full consultation report.

Your feedback is helping us to develop a preferred scheme design. Later this year, we will let you know more about the next stages.

September 2025

From 15 September, we will start our survey works (PDF, 233.5 KB), which will take around 12 weeks. Our work will consist of collecting data in a variety of locations on Blue Bell Hill and the surrounding area. To do this, we will be looking at current ground and drainage conditions.

We will need to close some lanes during this time to keep our team safe. To make sure we can do our work safely, we will be installing traffic management in the evening of 15 September. We will be working day and night shifts.

The lane closures are:

Maidstone bound A229 from Lord Lees Roundabout
Chatham bound A229 slip road to Lord Lees Roundabout
Chatham bound A229 beneath Lord Lees Roundabout.

January 2025

We have now received approval to our Strategic Outline Business Case from the DfT and are seeking funding for the next stage of the work needed for the project. The next stage of the work includes:

refining and further developing the design of the preferred scheme
development of environmental mitigation plans
agreement of funding
planning and other statutory consents
development of construction plans to manage both the timing of works and impacts on traffic during construction of the scheme.

Anticipated timescales

The forecasted timescales for this junction improvement scheme, should our business case submission be successful, are:

ground investigation works - summer 2025
submission of outline business case to the DfT - mid 2026
planning permission and consents processes started, and further detailed design - late 2026
further detailed design continues and submission of full business case to the DfT - late 2028
construction to begin - late 2028
scheme completion - summer 2031 (aim to be completed before the Lower Thames Crossing opens to traffic).

Scheme cost

This scheme is currently estimated to cost around £250 million. We have put in a bid to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Major Road Network funding programme for ‘Large Local Major Schemes.’ This programme was set up to cater for exceptionally large local transport schemes that could not be funded through normal routes. If our bid is successful, this will cover 85% of the cost of the scheme. The remaining 15% will need to come from developer contributions and other government funding opportunities.

The current budget has increased due to the very high inflation that the UK has recently experienced. Inflation on construction projects has been higher than general inflation as a result of shortages of materials as well as general price increases. The latest estimate has taken into account these issues as well as forecasting future cost rises.

Scheme documents

Scheme objectives

The objectives of this scheme are to:

improve journey time reliability at the M2 Junction 3 and M20 Junction 6 interchanges of the A229
reduce congestion along the route
enable the local area to develop in accordance with population and housing growth predicated under Local Plans
reduce the impact of additional traffic from the Lower Thames Crossing and allow the Lower Thames Crossing to maximise potential benefits it can provide for the Kent area
improve road safety and address known accident hotspots
make best use of existing assets including land and highways
provide suitable routes and facilities for public transport
provide safe and improved routes for pedestrians and cyclists
improve air quality
protect and enhance the local environment.

Funded by

The government Large Local Majors programme provides money dedicated to improvements to the Major Road Network.