Station Road’s constant closures frustrate Strood community
Residents and businesses seek clarity from SGN amid ongoing road disruptions
Locals have had enough of “constant” closures on a town’s main road, and want to know when the disruption will end for good.
Station Road in Strood was closed from the train overpass on February 8, only reopening on March 1, for emergency gas works.
Then, on February 24, there was an emergency gas leak at the other end, at the junction with the A228 Frindsbury Road, which caused another road closure.
So just as the bottom of the road was reopening, SGN closed the top, at first severing the connection with Frindsbury Road and then extending it to stop traffic moving onto Bank Road and Medway City Estate from Station Road as well.
This means the traffic problems along Frindsbury Road caused by the diversion could continue until March 11, as the latest set of roadworks is listed to be in place until then.
This has also added to the existing congestion problems around the Four Elms Hill and Sans Pareil roundabouts.
Vannessa Roach, 62, pharmacist at Williams Chemist in Frindsbury Road and vice chair of the Frindsbury Extra parish council, says a lack of communication about “constant” roadworks has left residents in the dark and businesses struggling.
She said: “There seems to be a lack of information – we weren’t told what’s happening, how long it will last, and what work’s being done to prevent emergencies happening in the future.
“It feels like they are just putting on a sticking plaster rather than dealing with the long-term problems and then using the fact they can use the emergency label and close the road off.
“We understand when there is an emergency it’s about making things safe and they have to act, but when they don’t provide information, it leads to lots of rumours.
“The businesses here have been affected – we’ve had our medical delivery drivers get stuck in the traffic and delays when medication and things arrive – because people think why bother getting stuck in the traffic.
“Particularly for us, if you can get your prescription filled somewhere else and avoid the jam, you would, but these businesses feed off each other.
“If you come to get your medication and it’s going to be ten minutes, you’ll pop into the butchers or one of the other shops and get something while you wait.
“It feels like it’s constant because we don’t hear anything and then the problem arises and we find out there’s roadworks after the fact.
“It just makes things so unpredictable – all we want is fixes to last longer than five minutes and for SGN and Medway Council to provide more information when these things happen to help people plan.”
She added the new school, Maritime Academy, had also placed pressure on the road network during the start and end of the school day.
She also said there were concerns about the impact of applications for new housing estates nearby too.
Frindsbury Extra Parish Council has written to SGN to express the frustration of residents and ask for clarification of details about the works.
In its letter, the parish council wrote: “While we recognise that works may be necessary to maintain essential infrastructure and ensure public safety, the frequency, duration, and repeated classification of these works as “emergency” raises serious concerns.
“If these works are genuinely urgent and critical, it is essential that both Medway Council and SGN demonstrate that the situation is being effectively managed and that sustainable remedial measures are being implemented.
“The community cannot continue to face significant disruption without clear accountability and communication.
“Station Road is a key transport route through the Medway Towns. The continued disruption caused by emergency gas works is having a significant impact on residents, local businesses, public transport, and the wider road network.”
Dan Brown, spokesperson for SGN said: “Our engineers have completed urgent gas network repairs at the junction of B2002 and Banks Road after a leak was reported. We’re currently working to restore the road surfaces we’ve disturbed to their original condition.
“The temporary closure of Banks Road and lights installed on the B2002 around our work area remain in place while our reinstatement continues.
“We recognise roadworks can be frustrating for road users, residents and businesses, especially in a traffic sensitive location like this and following recent repair work nearby, but this is essential work to keep everyone safe and warm.
“We’d like to reassure the community we’re doing everything we can to complete this work and clear our site as quickly and safely as possible.”
Medway Council was contacted for comment.
Strood is not the only area of the Towns which has been plagued by roadworks, with Rainham’s Lower Rainham Road also seeing similar problems.
The road was closed 15 times in 2025, with some closures lasting over a month, and causing businesses such as The Three Mariners pub to stay closed for more than 100 days because of disrupted trade.
Gillingham and Rainham MP Naushabah Khan (Lab) hosted a community event where residents expressed their frustration and asked questions of utility companies responsible for roadworks.
There, Medway Council said it was preparing an application for a lane rental scheme from the government, meaning it could charge companies up to £2,500 per day for road closures.