Medway work planned for autumn start

Work on two delayed Medway tunnel link schemes should finally get underway this autumn, according to Kent County Council.

Government delays in approving the œ35 million A289 Wainscott Northern bypass and œ17 million Gillingham Northern Link Road have left the œ70 million Medway tunnel isolated. The tunnel is due for completion next year but its link roads will now not be complete until 1998.

Transport secretary Brian Mawhinney announced last week that he supported the planning inspector's view that the Gillingham link should be approved. The Wainscott bypass received similar approval in February. Mawhinney is withholding final confirmation on both schemes until procedural arrangements over access to bits of the route are sorted out.

Kent hopes to have shortlists for the schemes finalised in about a month's time. Final confirmation on the routes should come through in around June/July, allowing tenders to go out around August for an October start.

The autumn start will be unpopular as much of the Wainscott scheme will be sunk in cuttings for environmental reasons meaning a lot of earthmoving. The bypass involves the construction of 6km of two-lane dual carriageway and the upgrading of 2km of single carriageway to dual standards.

The Gillingham scheme is not so weather sensitive with about half the 5.5km route requiring off-line earthworks and the other half upgrading to two-lane dual carriageway.