A2 road (England)

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A2
A2 road highlighted in green
A3 in Southwark 51°30′04″N 0°05′35″W / 51.5012°N 0.0931°W / 51.5012; -0.0931 (A2 road (western end))
Major intersections	A20 A205 A282 M25 M2 M2 A299 A28
South east end	A20 in Dover 51°07′35″N 1°19′38″E / 51.1263°N 1.3271°E / 51.1263; 1.3271 (A2 road (eastern end))
Location
Country	Primary destinations	Dartford, Rochester, Faversham, Canterbury
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A3

The A2 is a major road in south-east England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe. It was originally known as the Dover Road.^[1] The M2 motorway has replaced part of the A2 as the strategic route.

Unlike the other single digit A-roads in Great Britain, the A2 does not form a zone boundary. The boundary between Zones 1 and 2 is the River Thames.

History of the route

The route of the current A2 follows a similar route to that of a Celtic ancient trackway. It was an important route for the Romans linking London with Canterbury and the three Channel ports of Rutupiae (now Richborough), Dubris (now Dover) and Portus Lemanis (in modern Lympne). It had river crossings at Rochester over the River Medway; Dartford (River Darent) and Crayford (River Cray). The Romans paved the road and constructed the first Rochester Bridge across the Medway. Access to London was via London Bridge which was first constructed by the Romans in AD 50. The road appeared in the Antonine Itinerary, a contemporary map of Roman roads in Britain, as 'Item a Londinio ad portum Dubris'.

In

The Dartford Crossing opened as a single tunnel in 1963, then a second tunnel opened in 1980 for additional traffic on the A2, and the M2 Motorway opened in stages between 1963 and 1965 providing an alternative faster route for long-distance traffic avoiding the A2 through Rochester and Chatham. The three-lane stretch of the A2 between Falconwood and Cobham was built in stages from around 1963 until 1973. A section of Ringway 3 (part of the proposed M16 motorway linking to the A2, which later formed part of the M25 motorway opened between 1974 and 1977.

The Rochester Way Relief Road, bypassing

A new flyover for A2 westbound to M25 northbound traffic was completed in late 2007.

In 2008, a section of the A2 beside Gravesend was widened to 3 or 4 lanes between Pepperhill (a suburb of Northfleet) to Cobham. It was also rerouted away from the houses of Gravesend/Singlewell to make room for the new lanes and reduce the amount of noise and pollution from the widened roads. The old route of the A2 (the Roman road) has been made into a combined footpath and cycle path. The new road section opened in 2009.^[3][4] A section of the old road has been turned into Cyclopark, with footpaths, cycle paths and an equestrian route along the old road.

Proposed developments

A new Lower Thames Crossing down river from the Dartford Crossing linking to the A2 has been proposed by the Department for Transport in 2009.^[5]

The route today

Its original alignment roughly followed a mix of the ancient Celtic route and the turnpike road to Dover. The Roman alignment, however, is not easy to identify and much of the original A2 does not exactly follow what is known of the Roman route (the straightness of many long stretches is misleading). A section of the modern A2 from Rochester to the Roman settlement of Vagniacae, modern

Borough to Shooter's Hill

The A2 starts at

At Shooter's Hill, Watling Street and the A2 part company, as Watling Street continues along the

The A2 meets traffic lights at Kidbrooke; this is the last set of traffic lights out of Greater London (the lights only apply to traffic turning right onto the A2213). Shortly after here, the A2 crosses the A205 South Circular Road and becomes a motorway in all but name, with 3 lanes and a hard shoulder in each direction. Within the London section the left hand lane is used for local traffic.

At Falconwood, the road becomes the East Rochester Way – this point was once the westbound terminus of the dual carriageway. There are exits for

The A2 then bypasses Gravesend, before merging into the M2 at Three Crutches Interchange, near Strood.

This latter section, from the Pepper Hill Interchange (near Northfleet and the Ebbsfleet International railway station), to the Cobham Interchange underwent extensive works (2007–2009) to move the entire carriageway south to run parallel to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, so as to move the road away from residential housing – and continue using four lanes in each direction, with grade separated junctions.

Three Crutches to Brenley Corner

The A2 reverts to a non-primary single carriageway road at this point. The M2 now parts company to bypass the

The road meets the A249, now dualled, to the west of Sittingbourne, before going through the town itself (bypassing the now-pedestrianised High Street, as it does in Rochester and Chatham). Leaving Sittingbourne, the A2 continues east in an almost straight line, for it is still along the alignment of Watling Street at this point. At Ospringe it passes the Maison Dieu, now a museum of Roman artifacts but originally a wayside hospital^[8] commissioned by Henry III in 1234. The A2 continues to Faversham, but does not (and never has) go through the town, but almost bypasses it to the south. A mile (1.6 km) later, it arrives at Brenley Corner, junction 7 of the M2.

Brenley Corner To Dover Docks

At Brenley Corner, the A2 once again becomes a primary dual carriageway. Straight after the interchange,

terminate.

Junction list

County	Location	mi[10]	km	Destinations	Notes
A3201 – The City, London Bridge, Elephant and Castle, Waterloo, London, Southwark, Blackfriars, London	Northern terminus; continues as A3201 beyond A3
	0.03	0.048	A2198 east – Tower Bridge, Bermondsey	Western terminus of A2198
	0.5– 0.7	0.80– 1.1	A10 – Tower Bridge, Bermondsey, The City, London Docklands A40 – Westminster, Elephant and Castle	Southern terminus of A101 / A201; Tower Bridge, Bermondsey signed southbound only, A100, to routes, The City, and Docklands signed northbound only
	1.7	2.7	A2208 north-east – Rotherhithe, Surrey Quays	South-west terminus of A 2208
	A202 west (Queen's Road) – Peckham, Brixton	Eastern terminus of A202; no direct access from A2 east to A202 or from A202 to A2 west
		3.3– 3.5	5.3– 5.6	A21 / B218 – Channel Tunnel, Lewisham, Bromley, Brockley	Western terminus of A20
		3.8	6.1	A2210 south (Brookmill Road) – Deptford, Lewisham	Southern terminus of A2209; northern terminus of A2210
	A206 east (Greenwich High Road) / Deals Gateway – Greenwich	Western terminus of A206
		4.2	6.8	A2211 (Greenwich South Street / Lewisham Road) – Greenwich, Lewisham	Route signed northbound only
		5.8	9.3	A2213 south (Kidbrooke Park Road)	Northern terminus of A2213
		6.0	9.7	Shooters Hill, London Docklands, Woolwich Ferry	To A206, Docklands, and Woolwich Ferry signed northbound only; Southern terminus of A102; western terminus of A207
		6.0	9.7	North end of freeway
		6.4	10.3	Local traffic (Rochester Way)	Southbound exit only
		6.8	10.9	A20 – Kidbrooke, Lewisham	Partial intersection; no northbound entrance; To A20 and Lewisham signed southbound only
		7.4– 7.8	11.9– 12.6	Shooters Hill	Lewisham signed southbound only; To A21, Catford, and Shooters Hill signed northbound only
	Greenwich—Bexley borough boundary	9.4– 9.7	15.1– 15.6	Local traffic (Reifield Road / Rochester Way)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	A210 – Bexleyheath, Sidcup, Blackfen
		11.9– 12.0	19.2– 19.3	Local traffic (Upton Road)	Southbound exit and entrance
		12.6– 12.7	20.3– 20.4	To A223 – Bexleyheath town centre, Crayford, Bexley
A2018 – Wilmington, Kent, Dartford, Foots Cray, Bexley	Dartford signed southbound only; Foots Cray, Bexley signed northbound only
	16.3– 17.5	26.2– 28.2	M25 to M20 – Channel Tunnel, Gatwick Airport, Dartford Crossing	Eastbound exit
	16.3– 17.5	26.2– 28.2	A282 north to M25 north / M11 / M1 – City Airport, ExCel, Dartford Crossing	Westbound exits
	​	18.2– 18.7	29.3– 30.1	B255 – Bluewater (shopping centre), Bean
	​	19.6– 20.6	31.5– 33.2	A2260 – Northfleet, Gravesend (west), Ebbsfleet International railway station
	​	20.6– 21.1	33.2– 34.0	B262 to B260 – Pepperhill, Longfield	No eastbound exit
	A227 – Gravesend central, Wrotham , Services
	Gravesend	23.0– 23.6	37.0– 38.0	Gravesend (east)
	​	24.6– 25.2	39.6– 40.6	Cobham, Shorne
	A288 – Gillingham, Kent, Grain	Eastbound exit and entrance; no access from M2 west to A2 east
	Strood			End of freeway
		28.2– 28.4	45.4– 45.7	M2 – Sri Guru Ravidass Bhawan Temple, Cuxton	M228 north not signed
	Strood—Rochester, Kent town boundary	28.5– 28.7	45.9– 46.2	Rochester Bridge over River Medway
	M2 / M20 – Maidstone	To M20 signed westbound only; northern terminus of A229
	M2 – Maidstone	Northern terminus of A230
		30.4	48.9	The Brook — A231 east)	Western terminus of A231
	A231 west (Canterbury Street) – Gillingham, Kent	A231 signed eastbound only; eastern terminus of A231
	M2 / M20 – Maidstone	Access only to A249 south and from A249 north
	M2 – Ashford, Kent	Northern terminus of A251
	​	48.6	78.2	A299 east – London, Ramsgate, Margate, Whitstable, Herne Bay	Margate signed eastbound only, Whitstable and Herne Bay westbound only; eastern terminus of M2; western terminus of A299; M2 junction 7
	​	48.6	78.2	Begin freeway
	[[Boughton under Blean]]	48.8– 49.1	78.5– 79.0	Dunkirk, Boughton	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	​	51.6	83.0	Dunkirk, Boughton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	​	52.2	84.0	Chartham Hatch	Westbound exit and entrance
	Chartham Hatch	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		53.5	86.1	A28 – Canterbury, Harbledown	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; westbound terminus of A2050
	A28 – Canterbury, Ashford, Kent	No eastbound exit
	A2050 west – Sturry	No eastbound exit
	​	58.1	93.5	Bridge, Patrixbourne, Bekesbourne, Adisham	Eastbound exit only
	Bridge village boundary	59.6– 60.3	95.9– 97.0	Kingston, Barham, Bishopsbourne, Bridge	Bridge signed westbound only
	​	62.0– 63.1	99.8– 101.5	A260 / B2046 – Channel Tunnel, Folkestone, Aylesham, Wingham, Kent, Womenswold, Snowdown, Adisham, Nonington, Barham, Kent	Barham signed westbound only
	​	63.1	101.5	End freeway
	Whitfield	68.7	110.6	Whitfield Hill (A256 south) / Sandwich Road / Honeywood Road — Whitfield, Dover (north), River, Temple Ewell	Western terminus of A256 concurrency
		69.3– 69.8	111.5– 112.3	A256 north – Ramsgate, Sandwich	Grade-separated junction; eastern terminus of A256 concurrency
	A258 – Deal
	A20 west to M20 / Dover Docks – Dover town centre	South-east terminus; eastern terminus of A20
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• Watling Street

References

External links

Media related to A2 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons

• Museum of London picture of 1825 of the turnpike at Southwark
• Society for All British And Irish Road Enthusiasts : A2
• An A2 photo gallery Archived 8 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine