‘PEOPLE OF NORTH WALES ARE BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE’
THE removal of two roundabouts from the A55 has gone out to public consultation, but the Welsh Government has been slammed over “continual delays” to the project.
The proposal is to remove the two roundabouts at junctions 15 and 16, in Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr, and replace them with separated junctions. The consultation will run until Friday, August 24.
Work on the £34m scheme was initially supposed to start in 2017 and be completed by next year, but it was put back to avoid clashing with a flood alleviation project on the stretch of the A55 between Bangor and Abergwyngregyn.
Welsh Government economy and transport secretary Ken Skates said: “The A55 Junction 15-16 improvement scheme is a significant development in North Wales and a prime example of the action we are taking to invest in and improve our transport infrastructure.
“The A55 is a key strategic route linking Wales with Ireland, England and the rest of Europe and this scheme will deliver many benefits, including better traffic flows and journey time reliability, as well as improving safety.
“People’s views on the options being considered will form a vital part of the decision process and I encourage everyone with an interest to contrib- ute to this consultation.”
But North Wales Tory AM Mark Isherwood has hit out at the time it is taking to get the work started.
He said: “Once again, the people of North Wales are being taken for a ride as the Welsh Labour Government rehashes yet another announcement.
“Progress on this part of the A55 was promised back in 2015, with construction set to start in 2017, yet, some three years later we are still talking about consultations.
“We’ve seen little action to improve infrastructure in North Wales, with projects continually delayed and controversial routes for other schemes in Ewloe and Caernarfon on also con- tinually d i s - cussed, but alternative routes not constructed.”
Public c consultation on exhibitions s are being held eld for people to see the options being considered in detail and the timescales involved. d These h will ll take k place l at Penmaenmawr Community Centre on June 13 and Llanfair- fech fechan Community Cent Centre on tomorrow, June 14. 14 All take place between 10am and 8pm. The h exhibitions h are free to attend and everyone is welcome.