Traffic-busting £87m link road gets green light
by Peter Barnett
Traffic congestion outside one of
Kent's biggest employers should be a thing of the past after an
£87m road scheme was given the green light.
The second phase of the East Kent
access road scheme was given the final go ahead by the Government
on Tuesday, to link the road at pharmaceutical
firm Pfizer with the Thanet Way.
It will join up the first part of the
route at the village of Ebbsfleet, Thanet, to the Prospect
roundabout at the edge of Kent International Airport at Minster
,and the Lord of the Manor roundabout at Ramsgate. It
will also complete the link between the A299 and Port
of Ramsgate.
South Thanet MP Steve Ladyman has
welcomed the announcement. He said: “This is one of the key
transport improvements in my constituency that I have been
campaigning for since I first became involved in public life in
South Thanet back in the early 1990s.
“We already have phase one of this road
scheme completed and the final section of this piece of the jigsaw
puzzle can now get underway.
“The Government has agreed to
fund £81.25m of the estimated £87.443m cost. They have also agreed
an extra £850,000 towards the schemes preparatory costs.
“I am grateful that Kent Council made
this scheme one of their priorities but I hope that they are
grateful that without the Government agreeing to fund the lions
share of the cost it would have been impossible to complete.”
Work is expected to start in October,
with completion expected in 2012.
For more business news see Kent Business.
25/08/09
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