The Sheppey Crossing is not open to pedestrians, bicycles, or horses, and these continue to use the older bridge, as does the railway line to Sheerness.

[3] The Kingsferry Bridge, which previously carried the A249, suffers from two major drawbacks: Before its opening, it was estimated that 26,000 vehicles a day would use the new crossing.

[6] The bridge was designed by Cass Hayward and Capita Symonds, and won the 2007 IStructE Award for Transportation Structures.

A competition held to name the new bridge was won by lifelong Sheppey resident Reginald Grimwade, who was then invited to attend the opening ceremony and presented with an award by Ladyman.

[9] On the morning of 5 September 2013, more than 130 vehicles were involved in a series of shunt crashes on the southbound carriageway of the crossing, which at the time was covered in heavy fog.