A28 road

The A28 is a trunk road in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in south east England, connecting Margate, Canterbury, Ashford and Hastings.

A28
Route information
Length	58.6 mi (94.3 km)
Major junctions
North east end	A254 in Margate
Major intersections	A299 near St Nicholas-at-Wade A253 at Sarre A2 in Canterbury A20 / A292 in Ashford
South west end	A21 in North Hastings (Baldslow)
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Counties	Kent, East Sussex
Primary destinations	Ramsgate Ashford Canterbury
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The A28 near Rolvenden

The commemorative plaque for Simone Weil Avenue, a section of the A28 as it runs through Ashford

Starting at the seaside resort of Margate at the north-east point of Kent, the A28 runs inland and west-southwest to the cathedral city of Canterbury, before passing through the chalk hills of the North Downs via the gap cut by the River Stour, to the town of Ashford in the Vale of Holmesdale. From here, the A28 proceeds via the market town of Tenterden, to the East Sussex seaside town of Hastings, on the English Channel.

Route

The A28 leaves Margate via the seaside resorts of Westgate and Birchington, and then heads inland reaching open countryside at the village of Sarre, after which the road roughly parallels both the Ashford-Ramsgate railway line and the Great Stour river on their combined route to Canterbury and then Ashford.

From Sarre, the road passes through the villages of Upstreet, Hersden and Sturry, and then to the city of Canterbury. It forms part of Canterbury's ring road before leaving via Wincheap and Thanington Without, where a sliproad linking to the A2 was completed in 2011.

The A28 passes between the North Downs via the villages of Chartham, Chilham, Godmersham and Bilting, to enter the Vale of Holmesdale. The road reaches surburbia again at Kennington, a suburb of Ashford, but the A28 then skirts around the town centre of Ashford on a section of dual carriageway, where it has a junction with the A20. In 1983, this section was named Simone Weil Avenue, in honour of the French philosopher and mystic who is buried nearby in Bybrook Cemetery. Bypassing the village of Great Chart, the road undulates in a general south-westward direction around the Kentish Weald via the villages of Bethersden and High Halden, to the market town of Tenterden.

The A28 continues via the villages of Rolvenden and Newenden before crossing a narrow bridge over the River Rother and entering East Sussex via Northiam, beyond which the road becomes very winding. After the village of Brede there is a steep descent to bridge the river of the same name. Next is Westfield, just before the road climbs to terminate at its junction with the A21 just north of Hastings.

Improvements

Work has continued to improve the A28 into the 21st century. In 2011 a new slip road was completed to connect the road to the A2 in Canterbury.

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Kent	Margate	0.0	0.0	A254 south-east (Belgrave Road) to Cecil Square / A255 – Town centre, Ramsgate, Broadstairs	North-eastern terminus; north-western terminus of A254
	St Nicholas-at-Wade	5.6	9.0	A299 (Thanet Way) to M2 – Ramsgate, London, Broadstairs	Broadstairs signed north-east only
	Sarre	7.3	11.7	A253 east – Ramsgate	Information signed north-east only; western terminus of A253
	Sturry	13.1	21.1	A291 north (Sturry Hill) – Herne Bay	Southern terminus of A291
	Canterbury	15.9	25.6	A257 east to A2 – Sandwich, Dover	Western terminus of A257
		16.3	26.2	Rheims Way (A290 north-west) to A2 – London, Whitstable	South-eastern terminus of A290
	Canterbury–Thanington boundary	17.0– 17.1	27.4– 27.5	A2 to M2 – Dover, London	Grade–separated junction on A2
	Chilham	21.6	34.8	A252 west – Charing, Challock	Challock signed south-west only; eastern terminus of A252
	Kennington	28.5	45.9	A2070 south (Willesborough Road) to M20 – Brenzett, Willesborough	Northern terminus of A2070
		29.0	46.7	A2042 north (Faversham Road) – Challock, Faversham, Boughton Aluph	Boughton Aluph signed north-east only; Southern terminus of A2042
	Ashford	30.2	48.6	A20 (Fougers Way / Maidstone Road) / A292 south-east (Maidstone Road) to M20 / A251 – Ashford, Charing, Lenham, Faversham	North-western terminus of A292
	High Halden–Tenterden boundary	40.1	64.5	A262 west (Biddenden Road) to A272 – Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Biddenden	Eastern terminus of A262
	Newenden	47.7	76.8	A268 north-west – Hawkhurst, Sandhurst	Sandhurst signed south-west only; north-eastern terminus of A268 concurrency
East Sussex	Northiam	48.8	78.5	A268 south-east (Whitebread Lane) – Rye	South-western terminus of A268 concurrency
	Hastings	58.6	94.3	A21 (Ebden's Hill) – Hastings, London, Sevenoaks	South-western terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

51.17759°N 0.90522°E / 51.17759; 0.90522