The Folkestone – A Brighter Future scheme is more than a third complete with works planned to finish in late 2026.
Any regeneration project of this scale will inevitably cause disruption, and we are grateful to residents and businesses for bearing with us as we shape Folkestone town centre into a safer, greener and more welcoming place to spend time. Full details of the scheme are available on our dedicated FABF pages where you can also sign up for a newsletter from our contractors Jackson Civil Engineering for monthly updates.
Below is a summary of the most recent project changes:
Station Approach / Cheriton Road Junction
A system with two traffic is still in place while we finish works in this area.
There is no single detailed master map of where utilities are underground so like all large projects Folkestone – A Brighter Future has had to dig trenches to survey services and then adapt plans as necessary. The utilities under Station Approach have proved particularly unpredictable with UKPN having to complete emergency work and address significant uncharted buried services found on site. Unfortunately, this has made excavation slower and has had a knock-on effect in terms of timelines. The Jacksons team have been working to remedy this, completing overnight works to try and make up time and minimise disruption. However, these unexpected issues have necessitated design changes including a small diversion for underground services.
There has also been a need to redesign areas to accommodate changes including a widening of footways and adjustments to drainage. This extension is naturally disappointing, but we aim to complete these works as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you for bearing with us as we make Folkestone town centre greener, safer and more welcoming.
Closure of Cheriton Road junction
The road closure of the main junction at Cheriton Road to proceed from Tuesday 25th August for seven weeks.
During this road closure, our contractors will be carrying out island infill works. They will start by removing the redundant island, remove and disconnect pedestrian crossing and then install a new pedestrian crossing in this area. This closure will also allow footway works to take place outside of the Premier convenience store and down towards Co-op and then also on the opposite side of the road outside of the South Kent Community Church. Access and delivery arrangements to South Kent Community Church, Premier, Pharmacy, and Coop will be maintained throughout these works. A vehicle diversion will be provided via Cheriton Road, Middelburg Square, Cheriton Gardens, Shorncliffe Road, Castle Hill Avenue, and Radnor Park roundabout. A pedestrian diversion will also be provided; adequate signage and safety fencing will be installed to make the area safer and easier to navigate.
Overnight works on Cheriton Road
Cheriton Road will be closed between the hours of 10pm and 5:30am over three nights from Monday 12th October to Wednesday 14th October inclusive.
During this time Cheriton Road will be closed so our contractors can resurface the road and install road markings. The work will take place on the stretch of Cheriton Road stretching from Shorncliffe Road Junction to Middelburg Square.
A vehicle diversion will be provided via Radnor Park Road, Castle Hill Avenue, Shorncliffe Road, Cheriton Road North, Brockman Road, Coolinge Road, Guildhall Street North, and Bournemouth Road. An alternative route will be to travel from Radnor Park Road, Castle Hill Avenue, Bouverie Road West, and Middelburg Square.
To enable our contractor to safely carry out these works parking will be suspended on the stretch of road between Shorncliffe Junction and Middelburg Square. Residents will be able to park along Cheriton Gardens during this time.
Overnight works at Station Approach
Cheriton Road will be closed for roadworks under the railway bridge from 9pm until 5am on 28th September, 1st, 2nd and 5th - 9th of October.
Bus service information from Stagecoach
All the bus stops at Central Station will be closed during this closure.
16s Folkestone Bound will run normal route to Central Station roundabout and then divert into town via Foord Road, the alternative bus stop will be Radnor Park.
16s Canterbury Bound will divert via Foord Road to Central Station roundabout & resume route at Radnor Park.
71s to Town will run normal route to Central Station roundabout and then divert via Radnor Park & Foord Road, with the same alternate bus stop being at Radnor Park.
71s to Cheriton will divert via Foord Road & Radnor Park Road, serve Radnor Park and then resume normal route from Central Station Roundabout.
102 & 103 will serve the Civic Centre in both directions on Castle Hill Avenue.
More information
If you have any concerns or queries related to the works you can contact the Public Liaison Officer for Jackson Civil Engineering on 07974 416435 or via folkestone@jacksoncivils.co.uk
Jackson Civil Engineering compile a monthly letter with the latest project updates. You can sign up to receive the monthly newsletters or find previous issues of the newsletters here.
Traffic management plans can be viewed for each stage of the project on our project progress pages.