The A226 road travels in a west–east direction in southeast London and north Kent, from Crayford in the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Welling and Old Bexley. The London Boro ...

, through Dartford, Gravesend to Strood. It is about 15.7 miles in length.

Route

The road begins with an end-on junction with the A207 to the east of the town of Crayford. in the

in Both roads are marked on street maps as being part of the Roman road

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

; although the A207 is ''Crayford Road'', the A226 being ''Dartford Road''. After the road becomes ''West Hill'' where the descent into the valley of the

River Darent The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...

and the town of Dartford begins. At the foot of the hill the clockwise ringroad is encountered: the original road continued through what is now the pedestrianised High Street. Roads making up the Ring Road are (from the west): Highfield Road; Westgate; Home Gardens; Market Street; Lowfield Street (which continues south as the

A225 road List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the ...

); and Instone Road. Beyond the Ring Road is ''East Hill'', still part of Watling Street. At its top the road becomes The Brent: a junction here takes traffic south-east on the A296 road to connect with the

Dartford Crossing The Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, commonly known as the Dartford Crossing and until 1991 the Dartford Tunnel, is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, carrying the A282 road between Dartford in Kent in the south and Thurro ...

. The Brent crosses a bridge over the A282 road here. This is the only part of the M25 which not a motorway, where it crosses the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

by tunnel and bridge. From here the road follows a somewhat undulating course as it passes through areas of

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

which have been excavated for the cement industry, many of which factories having been closed down. The villages of

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

Greenhithe Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located east of Dartford and west of Gravesend. Area In the past, Greenhithe's waterfront on the estuary of the ri ...

and Swanscombe all lie along this stretch of the road. Due to the construction of

Ebbsfleet International Station Ebbsfleet International railway station is in Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, east of London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 ...

in 2006/2007, the route was altered. The road now heads right (via ''Thames Way'') under the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and then left, past the International station (and its many car parks) and Sawyer's Lake. This new route is also used by Fastrack Buses Route B (between Dartford and Gravesend). The A226 then passes Northfleet Urban Country Park (on a former waste dump) before following partially, a dismantled railway route to Northfleet. It then rejoins the London Road, near the Northfleet suburb of Rosherville. The former route is now the B2175. Then Gravesend is reached. As with Dartford, Gravesend has a ring road: this takes traffic around the town centre via Bath Street, West Street, Harmer Street, Milton Road, Parrock Street (where there is junction with the

A227 road List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the ...

), Windmill Street, Stone Street, Rathmore Road and Pelham Road. The A226 continues along Milton Road and east to the Lion Roundabout. It by-passes south of the village of

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

via the 1930s "

Arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector r ...

". This section of the A226 also follows the 1711 turnpike road between Gravesend and Rochester. The next village, lying mainly to the north of the road, is Higham; immediately following that is the junction with the dual-carriageway A289, the Medway Towns Northern Relief Road. The final section of the road crosses the B2018 and then drops down to the Medway valley until the junction with the A2 (Watling Street) in Strood.

History

Pre-1922 road lists

Before road numbering began in the United Kingdom, the road was part of the major route between

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and Dover, the road taken by all traffic heading for mainland Europe. When the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

published its first list of road numbers, however, the building of the A2 had already begun; and the earliest map shows the projected route of that latter road; the previous road being relegated to what is now the A226.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2-0226 Transport in the London Borough of Bexley Roads in Kent Gravesham Transport in Medway