£104m project to create a new motorway junction on the M20 in Kent has been granted development consent by the Secretary of State on Friday (1 December 2017).
Junction 10a will serve communities and businesses around Ashford, improving journeys by relieving pressure on the existing junction 10 and helping boost growth and jobs in the area.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced the decision in a letter to the Planning Inspectorate, who reviewed the plans last winter. Today’s news paves the way for construction work to begin early next year.
Chris Welby-Everard, Regional Delivery Director for Highways England in the South East said:
This major new motorway junction is the biggest boost for Ashford since the arrival of international rail services nearly 20 years ago. Junction 10a will unlock job-creating developments in the local area and will take pressure off the existing junction 10. It will bring jobs, better infrastructure for local services and help maintain the quality of life in and around Ashford.
Without Junction 10a in place, future economic growth would have been constrained. Today’s news will bring real confidence that we will have the road capacity needed to enable a major programme of economic and commercial development and house building.
I am grateful to all the local authorities and stakeholders in the area who have worked with us to gain this planning consent, including the 900 local people who took part in our consultation last year. We will continue to work closely with our partners going forward, especially people with homes and businesses nearest to the proposed new junction.
The new junction is part of the Government’s record £15 billion investment in major roads. Junction 10a will be constructed about half a mile south of the existing junction 10. It will use two bridges and connect to the existing A20 and a new dual carriageway link road built to the A2070 near Sevington.
Work on the improvements will begin early next year and the new junction is expected to open to traffic in 2019.
