The A290 at Pean Hill is shut for an emergency gas repair with no reopening time, and the A2 eastbound is down to one lane near Harbledown. Checked 29 Sep.
The biggest of this week’s Canterbury roadworks is an emergency one. The A290 at Pean Hill is closed for a gas repair. SGN shut the road between the Fox’s Cross Road and Pye Alley Lane junctions on 24 September, after a gas leak. Its notice calls it “a complex job” and says engineers are “not yet able to say how long our work will take”. A signed diversion is in place. SGN had given no reopening time when we checked on Friday 25 September.
Updated 29 September: SGN’s latest update, dated 28 September, says the road is still closed and the work “is taking longer than expected” because of “the complexity of the repair”. It still gives no reopening time. The detail, including the buses that use Pean Hill, is in our report on the closure.
The A2 eastbound is down to one lane between junction 7 of the M2 and the A2050 at Harbledown, for a second SGN emergency repair. SGN’s update is dated Friday 18 September and was still listed on 25 September. Westbound is not affected. Source: SGN, roadworks in your area.
The overnight closures of both Harbledown slip roads were scheduled for Monday to Thursday this week only, so they should now be over. The London-bound Patrixbourne exit slip still closes from 8pm to 5am on Friday and Saturday nights, for Kent County Council works.
In the city itself, Kingsmead Road is closed overnight until Saturday morning. The road shuts between the Kingsmead Leisure Centre and Sainsbury’s entrances, 7pm to 7am, from 23 to 26 September, for surfacing and lining.
Whitstable town centre is the open question. Kent County Council proposed closing Sea Street and reversing Harbour Street’s one-way system from Monday 21 September. It has published no Canterbury traffic notice since 10 September, so the order is still recorded only as one the county intends to make. We could not confirm today whether the work has started. The street-by-street detail is in our report on the Whitstable scheme.
Everything below comes from the orders and closure reports themselves. We re-read Kent County Council’s temporary traffic notices of 20 August, 27 August, 3 September and 10 September 2026, the county’s Kent-wide notice of 10 September, and National Highways’ closure report for Monday 21 to Sunday 27 September. Where a closure is only a proposal, this page says so. The tables were checked on Tuesday 22 September 2026; the SGN gas repairs above were added on Friday 25 September.
Closed now: the long ones
Kent County Council has made orders for all of these.
| Road | Extent | When | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claremont Street, Herne Bay | Closed in its entirety | 24 Aug to 6 Nov | Drainage works |
| Kite Farm, Whitstable | Whole length, closed in phases | 24 Aug to 18 Oct | Footway reconstruction |
| Aldridge Close, Herne Bay | Closed in its entirety | 31 Aug to 25 Sep | Footway reconstruction |
| Bridge Road, Bridge | 5m either side of the old railway structure | 14 to 25 Sep, 8am to 5pm | Tree and brick repairs |
Sources: Kent County Council’s notices of 20 August, 27 August and 10 September 2026. Pedestrian access is being kept open at all of them.
- Claremont Street, Herne Bay. Through traffic goes via Clarendon Street, Sunnyhill Road and the B2205 Sea Street. Six more weeks of it.
- Kite Farm, Whitstable. No diversion, and the closure moves along the road in phases, so which end is shut will keep changing until 18 October.
- Aldridge Close, Herne Bay. No diversion. Residential and emergency access is kept when it is safe to do so. Due to reopen on 25 September.
- Bridge Road, Bridge. Eastbound traffic is sent round via Nackington Road, Old Dover Road and the A2 to Bekesbourne. Westbound goes via Station Road, Dover Road, Old Dover Road and Nackington Road. Weekdays only, 8am to 5pm, and also due to finish on 25 September.
- The Westbere gas mains job finished its Church Lane phase on 14 September. The same order brings it back to Bushy Hill Road from 23 November to 23 December, and to Babs Oak Hill, Sturry from 4 January to 15 March 2027.
This week in the city: Kingsmead Road, overnight
Kingsmead Road closes between the entrances to the Kingsmead Leisure Centre and Sainsbury’s, from 7pm to 7am, from 23 to 26 September. The work is surfacing and lining. Through traffic is sent via Broad Oak Road, Vauxhall Avenue and the A28 Sturry Road.
Whitehall Road is closed outside number 31 from 21 to 25 September for duct and installation work. There is no diversion route; access is kept for residents and emergency vehicles when it is safe.
Both are in Kent County Council’s notice of 3 September, at the “intends to make” stage.
Whitstable and Herne Bay: what was due to start on Monday
The county’s 3 September notice set out two schemes running to 9 October, both proposed rather than made:
- Whitstable town centre. Sewer repairs close B2205 Sea Street outside number 20, with no through traffic between Red Lion Lane and Harbour Street. Harbour Street closes westbound between the harbour’s western entrance and High Street, and becomes one way northbound, its normal direction reversed between Woodlawn Street and High Street. High Street closes southbound for about 20 metres below Terrys Lane, and Cromwell Road closes eastbound at the Oxford Street junction. Turn bans go in at Sea Street, Red Lion Lane, Horsebridge Road, Terrys Lane, Victoria Street, Albert Street and Woodlawn Street. Bus stops move to the west side of Harbour Street.
- Charles Street and Bank Street, Herne Bay. Gully works close Charles Street at the Little Charles Street junction. The one-way orders on both streets are suspended so that access can be kept. Two diversions are signed: Bank Street, High Street, Beach Street, Mortimer Street and William Street; or Mortimer Street, Chapel Street and Charles Street.
Also proposed from 21 September: Grimthorpe Avenue, Whitstable is closed between numbers 45 and 39 until 5 October for a sewer connection, with traffic sent via Borstal Hill, Joy Lane and Valkyrie Avenue.
Kent County Council has published nothing for this district since its notice of 10 September, so we cannot tell you today whether any of these orders were made. Full detail on the Whitstable scheme: Whitstable’s one-way flip explained.
Still to come this week and next
From the county’s notice of 3 September:
- Broadway, Petham: 24 to 25 September, 8am to 5pm, about 40 metres east of Tapley.
- Grove Road, Wickhambreaux: 25 to 28 September, pole and cabling work south of Oak Lees.
From the county’s notice of 10 September, all at the “intends to make” stage:
- Baddlesmere Road, Whitstable: 28 September to 22 November, footway reconstruction. The whole road closes in phases of no more than 100 metres at a time. Phases 1 to 4 divert via Queens Road, St Annes Road and Northwood Road; phases 5 to 8 via Northwood Road, St Anne’s Road, Tankerton Circus and Tankerton Road.
- Grove Ferry Hill, Upstreet: 11.30pm on 28 September to 5am on 29 September, level crossing works, 20 metres either side of the crossing. Lorries over 7.5 tonnes get a much longer route via Preston, Ash and Sandwich.
- Kenfield Road, Petham: 28 September to 2 October, near Swarling Manor.
- Marley Lane, Kingston: 28 to 30 September, near Marley House.
- Out Elmstead Lane, Barham: 28 September to 5 October, a new gas connection opposite The Annex at Sunny Downs. The diversion uses the A2.
- Ford Road, Herne: 29 September to 1 October, by the landfill site at Broomfield Close.
The A2 and M2 this week: slip roads, overnight
From National Highways’ closure report for Monday 21 to Sunday 27 September:
| What closes | Nights | Hours | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 coastbound Harbledown exit slip | Mon 21 to Thu 24 | 8pm to 6am | Electrical works, Dunkirk to Wincheap |
| A2 London-bound Harbledown entry slip | Mon 21 to Thu 24 | 8pm to 6am | Electrical works, Dunkirk to Wincheap |
| A2 London-bound Patrixbourne exit slip | Wed 23 to Sat 26 | 8pm to 5am | Kent County Council works |
| M2 westbound junction 7 entry slip | Mon 21 to Fri 25 | 9pm to 6am | Survey works, Upper Harbledown to M2 junction 6 |
Two things worth knowing. The Patrixbourne slip is the London-bound exit near Bridge and Bekesbourne, and it is new this week. M2 junction 7 is Brenley Corner at Faversham, about eight miles west of Canterbury, so it matters mainly if you use the A2 to reach the motorway at night.
No A2 main carriageway closures are listed in this district for any night this week, and none at all for Sunday 27 September. The report is regenerated through the week, so check it before a late journey.
The Barham orders: both in force, for up to 18 months
Lydden Hill speed limits (ref NH/SE/2026/A2/67) came into force on 3 September for up to 18 months. They impose 50mph and 40mph limits on stretches of the A2 between Barham and Whitfield in both directions. National Highways is explicit about why: the danger to the public from movements in and out of Lydden Hill race circuit during Dover traffic management (notice).
Affinity Water at Barham (ref NH/SE/2026/A2/62) came into force on Saturday 12 September with a maximum duration of eighteen months, ending when the works are complete. National Highways republished the order on 3 September with the diversion routes attached. It authorises:
- overnight closure of the coastbound A2 between Barham Interchange (A260) and Westcourt Road, and every slip road serving that length
- overnight closure of the London-bound exit at Barham Interchange
- a 24-hour 50mph limit on the coastbound carriageway, between points about 360 metres and 2,040 metres south of the centre of the A260 overbridge
- suspension of the parking area beside the southern carriageway, from the Ropersole Park access to a point about 265 metres south of it
The work began with survey nights on the London-bound Barham exit in mid-September. National Highways says the overall duration depends on what those surveys find. No Barham closures appear in the report for 21 to 27 September.
What it means for you: the eighteen-month figure is a ceiling, not a forecast, and both orders bite only when the signs are out. The practical read is unchanged. The Barham stretch of the A2 will be an intermittent nuisance into 2027 rather than for a fortnight.
Coming in October: Nackington Road closes over the A2 for two weeks
National Highways is replacing a bridge joint on the B2068 Nackington Road where it crosses the A2 near Canterbury, and the bridge road, not the A2, is the one that shuts. It closes overnight, 8pm to 6am, Mondays to Fridays from Monday 12 October, with the last closure ending at 6am on Saturday 24 October. National Highways will put up temporary acoustic fence panels and says it will try to finish the noisiest work by 11pm each night. Separate northbound and southbound diversion maps are published on its South East maintenance schemes page, rechecked on 22 September.
Have your say: 17 metres of yellow line in Thannington
Kent County Council is proposing to extend the double yellow lines on Cockering Road in Thannington. The extension runs 17 metres north east from a point 13 metres north east of the Manor Close junction, on the north west side.
It is a small change, but the objection window is short and it is the only Canterbury item in the county’s Kent-wide notice. Representations, for or against, must reach Kent County Council by 12 noon on Monday 5 October 2026. An objection has to explain the impact on traffic in the locality to count. The plans can be seen at kent.gov.uk/highwaysconsultations or by appointment through tro@kent.gov.uk (notice).
Trains: nothing on the Whitstable line, a split train on Sunday
From Southeastern’s planned engineering work page and its engineering map for 26 to 27 September, both checked on 22 September:
- Monday 21 to Friday 25, late night. The overnight work is at Tonbridge, Lewisham, Sidcup and on the Victoria to Gillingham route. None of the affected services call in this district.
- Saturday 26 and Sunday 27. Lewisham station and the Bexleyheath line close all weekend. Charing Cross trains to Sevenoaks and beyond will not call at Lewisham.
- Sunday 27. All lines through Tonbridge close. Charing Cross to Ramsgate and Dover Priory trains run hourly, diverted between London Bridge and Ashford International to run via Maidstone East, calling additionally at Otford and Maidstone East. At Ashford the train divides, one portion going to Canterbury West and the other to Dover Priory via Folkestone Central.
- Sunday 27, the Victoria side. Engineering between Brixton and Shortlands closes Herne Hill, West Dulwich, Sydenham Hill, Penge East, Kent House and Beckenham Junction, which are served by buses. Brixton is shut all day.
- Southeastern lists no work on the Faversham to Whitstable, Chestfield and Swalecliffe, and Herne Bay line, and its map for the weekend shows that line in normal service colours. Canterbury East and the Dover line through Bekesbourne, Adisham, Aylesham and Snowdown are also unaffected.
How to check what is shut today
- National Highways’ closure report covers the A2 and A299, which are trunk roads and not the county’s responsibility. It is a spreadsheet with a sheet per day, reissued through the week.
- Kent County Council’s roadworks pages list county schemes; the highways line is 03000 41 81 81. Site signage goes up 14 days before KCC works start.
- The Public Notice Portal carries the statutory orders themselves, which is where the tables above come from. Kent publishes a Canterbury bundle roughly weekly, with the exact extent and the signed diversion for every closure. It skipped the week of 17 September.
- One.network is the live map councils and utilities publish to, but it asks visitors to sign in before it will show the works list, so it is less useful than it was.
The big scheme: the Sturry Link Road
The dominant long-term works in the district are Kent County Council’s A28 Sturry Link Road, built to get traffic over the Sturry level crossing instead of queueing behind it.
The contractor, VolkerFitzpatrick, puts its own contract at £34 million over about 93 weeks, with works beginning in May 2026. What is being built is a 550-metre road including a 250-metre, five-span viaduct over the Great Stour, its floodplain and the Canterbury to Ramsgate railway, plus a bus lane, a multi-user footway, a new roundabout and drainage. Ninety-three weeks from May 2026 lands in early 2028. The contractor’s page also carries a “winter 2026” line that does not square with its own duration figure, so treat 2028 as the realistic horizon. The full scheme cost has been reported at £61m with completion in summer 2028 (KentOnline); we have not found a first-party Kent County Council figure to confirm that.
What it means for you: until it opens, Sturry stays the district’s most fragile pinch point, and the pain is the old kind rather than roadworks. When the barriers are down or fail, everything from Herne Bay and Sturry queues into the city behind them. From the Herne Bay direction the practical alternatives are the A299 Thanet Way to the A2 via Brenley Corner, or parking at Sturry Road park and ride before the crossing.
The key routes, and how the city fits together
- A2 (London to Dover): the trunk bypass south of the city. Through traffic left the old alignment decades ago; that road is now the A2050, leaving the A2 at Harbledown and rejoining at Bridge. One quirk catches drivers constantly: at Wincheap, only London-bound traffic can leave the A2, with no coastbound exit (Wikipedia, A2 road).
- A28 (Ashford to Margate via the city): the high-pressure local artery, entering as Wincheap in the south-west and leaving as Sturry Road in the north-east (Wikipedia, A28 road).
- A290 to Whitstable and A291 from Sturry to Herne Bay: the two coast roads. The A291 is the one the Sturry Link Road will connect to the A28 without the level crossing.
- The ring road (Rheims Way, Pin Hill and the stretch around the walls) is how traffic orbits the pedestrianised centre. When a utility dig hits it, queues spread fast.
Park and ride
All three park and ride sites are open, and they remain the cheap answer to central parking. Figures from Canterbury City Council, checked 25 August 2026:
- £4 a day per car, covering up to six people on the bus. A district resident with a council parking account pays £3.20.
- Travelling without parking costs £4 for adults and £3.50 for children; under-fives go free.
- With an ANPR parking account, your fifth journey in a calendar month is free, but the council is clear that you cannot have both that and the resident rate. Annual permits are £600, or £480 for residents.
- Wincheap (A28, London side): every 8 minutes, 7am to 7.20pm Monday to Saturday; Sundays every 10 minutes, 9.45am to 5.30pm.
- New Dover Road (A2 side): every 8 minutes, 7am to 7.10pm Monday to Saturday; Sundays every 10 minutes, 9.45am to 5pm.
- Sturry Road (A28, coast side): every 15 minutes, 7.40am to 6.10pm Monday to Saturday; Sundays every 15 minutes, 10.05am to 5.20pm.
- The car parks are open 24 hours, so an early start or a late finish costs the same £4; only the bus hours limit you.
For central car parks, on-street rules and permits, see our full parking in Canterbury breakdown.
Parking at the stations
Both station car parks are run by APCOA for Southeastern. These are the current prices from Southeastern’s April 2026 tariff:
| Car park | Weekday all day | Saturday | Weekly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury East (134 spaces) | £7.50 to £8.00 | £4.90 | £25.00 |
| Canterbury West, Car Park A (48 spaces) | £10.50 to £11.00 | £8.30 | £39.60 |
| Canterbury West, Car Park B | £9.50 to £10.00 | £7.80 | Not offered |
The weekday spread is Monday and Friday at the lower price, Tuesday to Thursday at the higher, which mirrors the hybrid working week. Off-peak rates start at 10am and evening rates at 6pm, payment is by APCOA Connect app, QR code or machine, and Blue Badge holders park free once registered on APCOA’s Blue Badge portal (APCOA, Canterbury East). Canterbury East is markedly cheaper and rarely the longer walk, which matters if you are commuting to London: check which London terminal you need before defaulting to West.
Frequently asked questions
What roads are closed in Canterbury this week?
Claremont Street in Herne Bay (to 6 November) and Kite Farm in Whitstable (to 18 October) are the long ones. Aldridge Close in Herne Bay and Bridge Road at Bridge both run to 25 September. Whitehall Road in Canterbury is shut to 25 September, and Kingsmead Road closes overnight from 23 to 26 September. The full list with diversions is in Kent County Council’s notices of 3 September and 10 September.
Is the A2 closed this week?
Not the main carriageway. National Highways’ report for 21 to 27 September lists slip road closures only in this district: both Harbledown slips from Monday to Thursday night, and the London-bound Patrixbourne exit slip from Wednesday to Saturday night. Separately, SGN has the eastbound carriageway down to one lane between M2 junction 7 and the A2050 at Harbledown for an emergency gas repair, listed since 18 September.
Is Pean Hill closed?
Yes. SGN closed the A290 at Pean Hill between Fox’s Cross Road and Pye Alley Lane on 24 September for an emergency gas repair. On 28 September SGN said the job was “taking longer than expected” and it still could not say how long the work would take. Follow the signed diversion.
Is Sea Street in Whitstable closed?
Kent County Council proposed closing it from 21 September to 9 October, and reversing Harbour Street’s one-way system at the same time. The county has published no Canterbury traffic notice since 10 September, so the order is still recorded as one it intends to make rather than one it has made, and we could not confirm on 22 September whether the work has begun.
When is the next Sturry level crossing closure?
Kent County Council’s notices to 10 September show none. The next level crossing closure in the district is proposed at Grove Ferry Hill, Upstreet, overnight on 28 to 29 September.
How long is Claremont Street in Herne Bay closed for?
Until 6 November 2026. The road shut in its entirety on 24 August for drainage works, and Kent County Council has made the order rather than merely proposing it. The diversion runs via Clarendon Street, Sunnyhill Road and Sea Street.
Are trains running normally this weekend?
On the Whitstable and Herne Bay line, yes. Southeastern lists no engineering work there on 26 or 27 September. On Sunday 27 September all lines through Tonbridge close, so Charing Cross trains to Canterbury West run hourly and are diverted via Maidstone East, dividing at Ashford International (Southeastern).
How much is Canterbury park and ride?
£4 a day per car for up to six people at all three sites, or £3.20 with the district resident discount (Canterbury City Council), checked 25 August 2026.
Is there a coastbound exit from the A2 at Wincheap?
No. Only London-bound traffic can leave the A2 at Wincheap; coastbound drivers continue to Bridge.
Sources
- Kent County Council temporary traffic notices dated 10 September, 3 September, 27 August and 20 August 2026, all signed by Simon Jones, Corporate Director for Growth, Environment and Transport, for every district closure and diversion above.
- Kent County Council’s Kent-wide notice of 10 September 2026 for the proposed Cockering Road waiting restrictions at Thannington and the 5 October objection deadline.
- National Highways closure report, the edition covering Monday 21 to Sunday 27 September 2026, for the A2 and M2 overnight slip road closures.
- National Highways order NH/SE/2026/A2/62, republished 3 September 2026 with its diversion routes, and NH/SE/2026/A2/67, published 20 August 2026, for the Barham and Lydden Hill restrictions.
- National Highways South East maintenance schemes for the Nackington Road bridge joint closures in October.
- Southeastern’s planned engineering work and its engineering map for Monday 21 to Sunday 27 September 2026 for the rail position.
- VolkerFitzpatrick: Sturry Link Road for the scheme’s value, duration and design.
- Canterbury City Council: park and ride for prices and bus hours.
- Southeastern car park prices, April 2026 and APCOA for station parking.
Closures change week to week. The dates above are taken from the county’s orders as published on 20 August, 27 August, 3 September and 10 September 2026, from National Highways’ report for 21 to 27 September, and from Southeastern’s engineering programme, all checked on Tuesday 22 September 2026. Always check the live sources before a time-critical journey. Kent County Council’s own roadworks pages could not be read directly, so nothing here relies on them.
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