Upgrades planned for key UK link

Work is now to go ahead on upgrading a key stretch of the A21 road in the UK. Contractor 1146 Balfour Beatty will handle the work to widen a stretch of the A21 between Tonbridge and Pembury and also improve the road, with it becoming a dual carriageway. The €87.55 million (£69.7 million) scheme forms part of a plan by the UK Government for a series of road improvements of €30.15 billion (£24 billion) by 2021. Advance work is expected to start in the third quarter of this year with the main construction activity commencing in the second quarter of 2015. A 4km section of the A21 between Tonbridge and Pembury in Kent will be upgraded from single to dual carriageway, adding a lane in each direction, upgrading junctions and improving the road layout. The road scheme will make journeys on the A21 safer and help reduce congestion as the section is used by over 35,000 drivers/day. The A21 upgrade is one of six major road schemes that the 2309 Highways Agency is developing for delivery after 2015 and is in addition to the 24 major road projects on England's motorways and major A roads being delivered between 2010 and 2015. Evidence given at the public enquiry last year showed that journey times will be improved along this section by up to 65% in 2017 while the number of collisions reduced by 60%.