M2 motorway (Great Britain)

M2 shield
M2
MapM2 highlighted in blue

Shown with UK motorway network
NashendenValley5500.JPG
A picture of the Medway Viaducts in 2008.
Route information
Maintained by National Highways
Existed1963–present
History
  • Junctions 2 to 5 opened in 1963.[2]
  • Junctions 1 to 2 and 5 to 7 opened in 1965.[3]
Major junctions
West endShorne
East endFaversham
Location
CountryUnited Kingdom
CountiesKent
Road network
← M1→ M3

The M2 is a 25-mile (40 km) motorway in Kent, England. It is part of a link between London and North Kent, and was built to bypass the A2 through Medway, Sittingbourne, and Faversham.[1] The M2 serves these areas through seven junctions and provides access to landmarks such as Chatham Dockyard and Rochester Castle.[4]

Route

The M2 starts in Medway and caters for journeys between London and North Kent.[1] It provides access to Chatham, Faversham, the Isle of Sheppey, and Maidstone through seven junctions.[4] The M2 passes over the River Medway via the Medway Viaducts. It continues as the A2 at both ends, and also continues as the A299, commonly known as the Thanet Way, at its eastern end towards Ramsgate.[1]

History

Development and opening of the original motorway

Junction 2 of the M2, the roundabout on the A228, showing the motorway crossing the Medway and climbing up the Nashenden Valley. Alongside is High Speed 1.
Junction 5 of the M2
The widened section approaching the lane drop at junction 4

The M2 was originally reserved for a direct motorway connection from London to the Channel Ports, which later opened as the M20, and the A2(M) was reserved for the present route. After the Daily Telegraph published an article that misnamed the A2(M) as the M2, the Ministry of Transport changed the number of the motorway.[5] The section of the M2 between junctions 2 and 5 was first opened by Ernest Marples on 29 May 1963,[2] and the rest of the M2 from junctions 1 to 2 and junctions 5 to 7 was opened in 1965.[3] The M2 opened with a single service area operated by Top Rank between junctions 4 and 5 named Farthing Corner services,[6] which was later renamed to Medway services and is now operated by Moto.[7]

Cancelled extension

The Ministry of Transport originally planned to extend the M2 to London and Dover.[8] Due to a lack of traffic demand, the A2 was instead upgraded to a dual carriageway from Faversham to Dover[9] and to a six-lane dual carriageway with hard shoulders and four grade-separated junctions from Strood to Swanscombe towards London.[10][11][12] The six-lane section of the A2 was opened at noon on 29 July 1966, with the Bishop of Rochester, David Say, who said a prayer, and George Harris, the managing director of Monk Ltd.[13][14]

Widening

Mitigating traffic congestion on the M2 was considered as early as 1980 when a proposal to ban heavy goods vehicles from using the second lane on an uphill section of the M2 was debated in Parliament.[15] Junction 1 was altered in the late 1990s to accommodate a link to the Medway Tunnel, which opened as the A289.[5][16] From 2000 to 2003, the M2 was widened from four to eight lanes from junctions 1 to 3 and to six lanes from junctions 3 to 4.[5] Costain, Skanska and Mowlem (CSM) were contracted to complete the project.[17] A new bridge was built in parallel to the original Medway Viaduct to provide extra capacity.[18] The widened section was lit and spoil from the North Downs Tunnel was used to form the new embankment for the westbound carriageway between junction 2 and Nashenden Valley.[17]

Junction 5 improvements

From June 2021 to February 2025, National Highways remodelled junction 5 of the M2 at a cost of £100 million to provide a flyover for A249 through traffic and improved connections between the M2 and A249. The main aims of the scheme were to improve capacity, connectivity, and safety. Graham Construction was contracted to rebuild the junction.[19]

Junctions

County Location mi km Junction Destinations Notes
Kent Strood 27.0
27.5 		43.4
44.3 		1[coord 1] A2  - London, Dartford Crossing

A289  - Gillingham

Road continues West as A2 to London
28.8
29.0 		46.3
46.6 		2[coord 2] A228  - Rochester, West Malling
Chatham 32.6
32.8 		52.4
52.8 		3[coord 3] A229  - Chatham, Rochester, Maidstone
Gillingham 36.4
36.5 		58.5
58.8 		4[coord 4] A278  - Gillingham
Rainham Services[coord 5] Medway services
Stockbury 40.4
40.3 		64.4
64.9 		5[coord 6] A249  - Sittingbourne, Maidstone, Sheerness
Faversham 50.6
50.8 		81.5
81.8 		6[coord 7] A251  - Faversham, Ashford
52.3
52.6 		84.2
84.7 		7[coord 8] A2  - Canterbury, Dover, Channel Tunnel

A299  - Margate, Ramsgate

Road continues as A299 to Ramsgate
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Notes

  • Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown.
  • Coordinate data from ACME Mapper.
Coordinate list
  1. ^ 51°23′58″N 0°26′36″E / 51.3995°N 0.4433°E / 51.3995; 0.4433 (Junction 1 of the M2)
  2. ^ 51°23′02″N 0°28′05″E / 51.3838°N 0.4680°E / 51.3838; 0.4680 (Junction 2 of the M2)
  3. ^ 51°20′14″N 0°30′28″E / 51.3373°N 0.5079°E / 51.3373; 0.5079 (Junction 3 of the M2)
  4. ^ 51°20′10″N 0°35′04″E / 51.3362°N 0.5844°E / 51.3362; 0.5844 (Junction 4 of the M2)
  5. ^ 51°20′28″N 0°36′28″E / 51.3412°N 0.6078°E / 51.3412; 0.6078 (Medway services)
  6. ^ 51°19′48″N 0°39′44″E / 51.3299°N 0.6623°E / 51.3299; 0.6623 (Junction 5 of the M2)
  7. ^ 51°18′02″N 0°53′18″E / 51.3006°N 0.8884°E / 51.3006; 0.8884 (Junction 6 of the M2)
  8. ^ 51°18′05″N 0°55′31″E / 51.3015°N 0.9254°E / 51.3015; 0.9254 (Junction 7 of the M2)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "M2 and A2". Roads.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Golden anniversary for the M2". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Motorway Database – M2 Timeline". CBRD. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  4. ^ a b "M2 Traffic News, Updates & Travel Information". RAC Route Planner. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "A look back at the history of the M2". Kent Online. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Motorways (catering facilities)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 17 February 1964. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  7. ^ Chatterton, Mark (15 August 2022). Britain's Motorways. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-3981-1117-2.
  8. ^ Heseltine, Michael (15 July 1970). "M2, Dover". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  9. ^ Heseltine, Michael (15 July 1970). "M2 Motorway (Brenley Corner – Dover)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  10. ^ Heseltine, Michael (16 December 1970). "M2 Motorway (Extension)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  11. ^ Tonbridge Free Press Friday 24 April 1964, page 5
  12. ^ Birmingham Daily Post Thursday 6 May 1965, page 26
  13. ^ Kent Messenger Friday 29 July 1966, page 2
  14. ^ Kent Messenger Friday 5 August 1966, page 8
  15. ^ Clarke, Kenneth (22 July 1980). "M2 (Heavy Vehicles)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  16. ^ "New Road Schemes". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 21 October 2002. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  17. ^ a b "Route Description – A2/M2 and A249 (M2 to Sheppey)". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  18. ^ "New Medway Viaducts | Roads.org.uk". www.roads.org.uk. 13 November 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  19. ^ Hakimian, Rob (6 February 2025). "£100M overhaul of M2 junction 5 in Kent completed". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 24 December 2025.

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