A28 North Thanet Link
North Thanet Link will improve connectivity and resilience within the road network of Thanet. It will help the local road network cope with future increases in traffic generated by growth and tourism activity.
It will also provide additional travel routes for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport services to encourage active travel.
Why we're making changes
The A28 Canterbury Road corridor often faces high volumes of traffic. This results in congestion, unreliable journeys and increased concerns for road safety. Because this road is so busy, cyclists and pedestrians can be deterred from using the route. These issues will continue get worse as traffic increases within the district.
North Thanet Link will provide additional road capacity and an alternative travel route between Birchington and Margate.
It will also improve road safety within the village of Acol, by providing an eastern highway link encouraging traffic away from the village centre.
What will change
The scheme is made up of approximately 9.2km of highway improvements including:
- widening of the existing public highway
- construction of new highway links through proposed development sites and across agricultural farmland
- associated highway junction improvements
- provision of new walking and cycling routes
- new sustainable drainage solutions
- street lighting.
Updates to project
February 2025
North Thanet Link is currently still under development, pending a funding decision relating to the Outline Business Case from the Department for Transport (DfT). We expect a decision by summer 2025.
We have reviewed the scheme programme and we anticipate we will submit a planning application in autumn 2025.
Initial archaeological exploratory investigations at various locations within the proposed scheme route were completed during January and February 2025. The findings from this process are being reviewed and will inform the final design and mitigation package for the scheme.
January 2024
An Outline Business Case has been submitted to the DfT, with initial feedback expected in early 2024. We are undertaking an initial analysis of feedback received from the recent public consultation and the scheme is currently subject to design review.
Subject to funding, a planning application is expected to be submitted in the last quarter of 2024.
Scheme documents
- Consultation report (PDF, 1.6 MB)
- Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) (PDF, 157.3 KB)
- Preliminary scheme drawings (November 2023) (PDF, 16.8 MB)
Scheme cost
North Thanet Link is currently estimated to cost up to £76.7 million. Funding is earmarked from the Department for Transport’s 'Major Road Network Fund' and local developer contributions.
Maps (November 2023)
The following maps show the outline of the works taking place on the A28 North Thanet Link:
- Annotated general arrangement key plan map (PDF, 1.5 MB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (1 of 8) (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (2 of 8) (PDF, 1010.5 KB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (3 of 8) (PDF, 853.4 KB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (4 of 8) (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (5 of 8) (PDF, 721.4 KB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (6 of 8) (PDF, 920.5 KB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (7 of 8) (PDF, 868.7 KB)
- Annotated general arrangement map (8 of 8) (PDF, 933.6 KB)
Funded by
The government Growth Deal provides money to the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, funding projects which drive Kent’s economic and business growth.
