The A278 (Hoath Way) is a road running north–south in north

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. The whole length of the road is

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

, within

Medway Council Medway Council is the local authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The council was created on 1 April 1998 and replaced Rochester-upon-Med ...

but is a non-

primary route The United Kingdom has a network of roads, of varied quality and capacity, totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) sy ...

History

The A278 was formerly used as the number for the Felbridge – Horsham road, which is now part of the

A264 A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

. However, the A278 is now used for the long dual carriageway that links the M2 to the A2.

The route

The road begins at Junction 4 of the widened M2 (since 2003) where it travels in a northerly direction towards Gillingham. About along the route there is a roundabout, with road links to Hempstead and

Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre Hempstead is a village near Gillingham, Kent in South East England. Historically a small hamlet, Hempstead grew throughout the 20th century to become part of the urban area of the Medway Towns. Hempstead is located on the southern edge of the U ...

on the left, and Wigmore on the right. The A278 continues as a dual carriageway travelling northwards. The route is generally surrounded by trees for much of its length. The second roundabout hosts another exit for Wigmore on the right and Gillingham Business Park on the left. The road terminates further north at the large Bowaters Roundabout) with the A2, with links to Gillingham, Gillingham Business Park,

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

and the

Medway Tunnel The Medway Tunnel is a tunnel under the River Medway linking Strood with Chatham in Kent, England. It forms part of the A289 Medway Towns Northern Relief Road. The Medway Tunnel is the first immersed tube tunnel to be built in England and only ...

. The road itself provides a vital link between the eastern side of the Medway towns and the M2 motorway.

References

External links

SABRE – A278Map of A278
{{DEFAULTSORT:2-0278 Roads in Kent