Angry motorists have branded a weekend-long closure of parts of the A2 "shambolic" after being held in heavy traffic for hours.

The main road near Bluewater at Greenhithe was sealed off on Friday night by Highways England for the construction of a new flyover - and will not reopen until 6am tomorrow.

Scores of people were stuck in heavy traffic yesterday along the route, with one claiming to have been sat in queues for five hours.

Taking to Twitter, a dejected driver wrote: "Absolutely shambolic.

"Five hours at an almost standstill to go through Ebbsfleet."

Meanwhile, another social media user said the timing of the work was "disgraceful", as it is the second-to-last weekend before schools reopen.

There were also reports yesterday that the roads in Northfleet, Swanscombe and Greenhithe had ground to a halt.

"Absolutely disgusting closing the A2 on a weekend," a motorist complained.

"I'm stuck and can't get to Bluewater. How many thousands of hours of people's valuable weekend time have you wasted?"

Due to the work, the coast-bound carriageway of the A2 is closed between the exit and entry slip roads at the Bean junction, while two lanes of the route are shut from the M25 on the approach to Bean.

The London-bound carriageway of the A-road is also sealed off from Ebbsfleet to the M25.

A number of diversion routes have been set up, including:

• A2 London-bound traffic from the M2 – Exit the M2 at junction 3 onto A229 or junction 5 onto A249, then use M20 to join the M25 at junction 3, then exit the M25 at junction 2 to rejoin the A2.
• A2 coast-bound from Surrey / Hampshire – Exit the M25 at junction 5, then use the M26/M20 and either the A229 or A249 to join the M2.
• A2 coast-bound traffic from Kent / Essex – Exit the M25 at junction 3 then use the M20 and either the A249 or A229 to join the M2.
• Access to Bean bridge as a pedestrian – Access for pedestrians and cyclists will be maintained across the bridge. Cyclists will need to dismount and there may be a short delay for people to cross until access to the area is made safe.

The new flyover will be located to the east of the existing Bean Lane bridge, and will form part of major junction improvements at Bean and Ebbsfleet.

How improvements at the A2 near Bean and Bluewater will take shape

In a reminder on Wednesday to those travelling this weekend, Edgar Vila Pouca, of Highways England, said: “We know this is a very busy junction and we would only close the carriageway at Bean if absolutely necessary.

“There are likely to be significant delays at times and would urge anyone travelling along the A2 this weekend or in the local area to look at alternative routes if possible and to allow extra time for journeys.”

Highways bosses want to overhaul the junctions in order to help the route cope with the influx of new homes in the area, including the 15,000 in the pipeline for Ebbsfleet Garden City.

The road scheme - which is set for completion by 2023 - was given the green light in June 2019 following a public inquiry.

The Bean and Ebbsfleet junctions are 1.2 miles apart with the former linking traffic with Bluewater, while the latter links the A2 with the B259 Southfleet Road.

The scheme includes enlarging the roundabouts to the north and south of the A2.

At the Ebbsfleet junction, Highways England says the proposals "will broadly follow the existing road layout" but with the roundabouts extended and traffic lights installed.

Attempts were made to contact Highways England for further comment over the queues.

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