Sevenoaks roadworks: A25 shut to 24 Aug, Kemsing to 18 Oct

Two closures go in tonight. The A25 Westerham Road at Bessels Green shuts westbound over the A21 at 20:00 and stays shut until Monday morning, the second of the three weekends left in the order. The M26 westbound into the M25 at Junction 5 gets a fifth overnight closure, one more than National Highways originally listed. Then from Monday the local picture changes: Kent County Council has ordered Cotmans Ash Lane at Kemsing closed for nearly eight weeks. Below are the dates, the signed diversions, the orders the council made this week and the ones it only intends to make, with the statutory notice and the closure report linked so you can check any of it yourself.

The quick answer

The A25 Westerham Road at Bessels Green is closed to westbound traffic over the A21 from 20:00 tonight, Friday 21 August, until 06:00 on Monday 24 August, with one more weekend, 28 to 31 August, listed as a contingency before the order expires. Through traffic is signed down the A21 southbound to Morleys Roundabout and back. The M26 westbound between Junction 3 and the M25 at Junction 5, and the M25 clockwise between Junctions 5 and 6, are closed from 22:00 tonight to 05:30 on Saturday, the last night of that job. From Monday 24 August, Cotmans Ash Lane at Kemsing is closed for a new water main until 18 October.

Last checked against the statutory notice dated 21 August 2026 and the National Highways closure report for 20 to 26 August, on 21 August 2026.

A25 Westerham Road: two weekends left, then the order runs out

The closure exists because of National Highways works beside the A21. Kent County Council made an order prohibiting westbound traffic on the stretch of the A25 that crosses over the A21, from 18 May 2026 until 31 August 2026 or until the work is finished, according to the statutory notice for the closures.

The closures are not continuous, and the order sets out every one of them. It opened with overnight closures between 20:00 and 06:00 from 18 to 22 May, then ran full weekend closures through late May and June. There are no July dates in the order at all. Work resumed with the weekend of 7 to 10 August, the weekend of 14 to 17 August has been and gone, and these are the two left:

• Friday 21 August at 20:00 to Monday 24 August at 06:00, going in tonight
• Friday 28 August at 20:00 to Monday 31 August at 06:00, marked in the order as a contingency date

Each runs continuously rather than lifting during the day: the closure goes in at 20:00 on the Friday and comes off by 06:00 on the Monday. Only westbound traffic is prohibited, so eastbound journeys over the bridge are unaffected. The last weekend on the list ends on the August bank holiday Monday, and unless Kent County Council publishes a fresh notice, the order expires with it. Nothing in the notice published this week extends it.

When the A25 is shut westbound over the A21, the signed diversion sends drivers down the A21 southbound to Morleys Roundabout and back, according to the published notice. In practice that adds time and funnels traffic through Bessels Green and the Riverhead area, so allow extra minutes if you are heading west towards Westerham or the M25 this evening or over the weekend.

M25 Junction 5: a fifth night tonight, then clear for the bank holiday

The M25 at Junction 5, the Sevenoaks junction where the motorway meets the M26 and the A21, has been in the closure programme all week. The previous National Highways seven day closure report listed four nights, Monday 17 to Thursday 20 August. The report published for 20 to 26 August carries the same closure again on Friday 21 August, so the job has run to five nights rather than four: the M26 westbound closed between Junction 3 and the M25 at Junction 5, and the M25 clockwise closed between Junctions 5 and 6, from 22:00 tonight to 05:30 on Saturday morning. The report gives the reason as routine maintenance and says the diversion runs over both the National Highways and local authority networks.

That is the last night listed. Junction 5 does not appear again anywhere in the report for Saturday 22 August through to Wednesday 26 August, so on the current schedule the junction is clear over the bank holiday weekend. Reports are republished weekly and closures can be added, so check on the day if you are travelling late.

Two A21 slip roads either side of the town are also affected. The A21 southbound entry slip at Morleys Roundabout is closed from 20:00 tonight to 06:00 on Saturday, part of an inspection and survey between Dibden Lane and the roundabout. On Monday 24 August the A21 northbound exit slip for Westerham is closed from 20:00 to 06:00, for a survey between Morleys Interchange and the A25 at Sevenoaks. The A20 westbound Swanley bypass link road is closed from 23:00 tonight to 05:30 for electrical works, with the diversion on local roads. All of them lift before the morning run in.

Further south, the A21 is closed in both directions between Johns Cross roundabout and Northbridge Street roundabout, near Robertsbridge, from 20:00 to 06:00 on every night from Saturday 22 August to Wednesday 26 August. That is well beyond the district, but it is on the route if you are driving to Hastings or the coast in the evening.

Other roads shut across the district in the coming week

Kent County Council places its temporary traffic orders in the local paper, and the batch signed on 21 August 2026 covers the bank holiday week. The orders below have been made, so they are decisions rather than intentions, and all of them come from the Sevenoaks traffic notices published on 20 August.

Cotmans Ash Lane is the one to note, because it is not a day or a night but eight weeks: the order runs from 24 August to 18 October while a new water main is laid. The signed route is a long way round the lanes, via Clarkes Green Lane, Birchin Cross Road, Row Dow, Pilgrims Way, Childsbridge Lane, West End, High Street and Heaverham Road. Kemsing drivers who use the lane to reach the A20 or the M26 should plan for the rest of the school term rather than the rest of the week.

The A225 High Street closure is the one most likely to catch out a Sevenoaks driver, because it shuts the road outside Sevenoaks School for a night and sends the signed route right round the town, via Tonbridge Road, Riverhill, the Weald Interchange, the A21 bypass, the A25 through Worships Hill and The Square, then Amherst Hill and London Road.

The same notice sets out a further nine orders the council only intends to make, all of them in September. They include the A225 Riverhill northbound at Morleys Roundabout on 3 September, four nights at the railway bridge on the B2027 at Bough Beech from 7 September, French Street at Westerham from 8 September, the B2026 Hartfield Road at Edenbridge from 10 September, and Station Road in Edenbridge from 12 September for up to 54 days for a storm water connection, which would also suspend the cycle lane and ban the turn in from the B2026. Those are intentions rather than decisions, and the dates can move, though they do tend to arrive: last week’s notice listed Pilgrims Way at Westerham as an intention, and this week it is an order.

Sevenoaks station: the lift replacement is still running

It is not only the roads. The lifts between platforms 3 and 4 and the station footbridge were out of order from 17:00 on 7 May 2026, listed by Southeastern as out of service “until further notice” on its service disruption page. Those lifts have since reopened, and the station has moved on to replacing the platform 1 and 2 lifts, the next phase of a renewal running into winter 2026. We cover that in Sevenoaks station’s lift replacement.

While any of the lifts are out, step free access at one of the busiest commuter stations in west Kent is the thing to check before you travel. Southeastern points passengers to the nearest step free alternatives: Tonbridge and Chelsfield for Southeastern services, and Otford for Thameslink. If you use a wheelchair, travel with a buggy or simply cannot manage the footbridge stairs, it is worth looking at the disruption page on the day and requesting assistance through Southeastern in advance.

There is one rail closure in the same window. On Sunday 23 August, Sevenoaks trains run to and from London Cannon Street rather than Charing Cross, so check the terminal before you set off: what runs on those dates. If you are working out an alternative service, our guide to Sevenoaks trains to London has the times, fastest routes and the last train home.

What it means for you

The practical takeaways for the bank holiday stretch:

• The A25 at Bessels Green is shut westbound over the A21 from 20:00 tonight to 06:00 on Monday, and again from 28 to 31 August. Head west via the A21 to Morleys Roundabout and back, or travel outside those windows.
• The order expires on 31 August 2026, and nothing published this week extends it, so unless a fresh notice appears the weekend closures stop after the bank holiday.
• Tonight is the fifth and last listed night for the M26 westbound into the M25 at Junction 5 and the M25 clockwise between Junctions 5 and 6, 22:00 to 05:30. The junction is clear in the report for the rest of the week.
• Cotmans Ash Lane at Kemsing closes on Monday and does not reopen until 18 October. That is the closure to build into a routine, not a journey.
• On Sunday 23 August, trains from Sevenoaks run to Cannon Street, not Charing Cross.
• Anyone needing step free access at Sevenoaks station should check which lifts are working before setting off, as the replacement programme runs into the winter, with Tonbridge, Chelsfield and Otford the nearest step free alternatives.
• For conditions on the day, the National Highways seven day closure report and the Southeastern journey planner are the official live sources.

Closures and dates can change at short notice, and the orders allow the work to stop early if it is finished. National Highways advises drivers to check its closure report or the Traffic England website for the latest before setting off. If you are driving into town rather than through it, our Sevenoaks parking guide lists the main car parks and current tariffs.

Sources

• Sevenoaks multiple Temporary Traffic Regulation Notices, published 20 August 2026 and dated 21 August (the district orders and the September intentions)
• Sevenoaks multiple Temporary Traffic Regulation Notices, published 1 May 2026 (the A25 Bessels Green order and its full list of closure dates)
• Sevenoaks multiple Temporary Traffic Regulation Notices, published 13 August 2026 (the previous week’s orders)
• National Highways seven day road closure report, week of 20 to 26 August 2026 (M26 and M25 Junction 5, the A21 slip roads, the A20 Swanley bypass link)
• Southeastern service disruption page (Sevenoaks station lifts)