Red route’s green light in vital route upgrade
THE Welsh Government has announced its preferred route for a £250m scheme to ease congestion at one of the main gateways for north Wales.
It is hoped the red route - which will see a new road linking the A548 just after the Flintshire Bridge to the A55 - will help traffic flow through the busy A494 Deeside corridor.
The alternative blue route would have seen the existing A55/A494 dual carriageway widened to three lanes in each direction for six miles, along with junction improvements at the Ewloe interchange.
Economy and Infrastructure Secretary Ken Skates said: “I’m delighted to announce the red route as my preferred option to address the congestion problem in the Deeside Corridor, A55/A494/A548, area.
“Having taken full account of the technical, social, economic and environmental aspects of the scheme and listened to the consultation responses, I’m confident this significant investment will address existing problems and compliment improvements across the Deeside area.
“The next steps will be to develop a preliminary design, which considers the environmental and engineering issues in more detail and looks to address some of the issues raised during the consultation.
“I’m hopeful this can be completed quickly, with businesses and commuters feeling the benefit of this project at the earliest opportunity, strengthening the social and economic links between Deeside Industrial Estate, Chester and beyond in the process.”
Mr Skates also announced he would be progressing the delivery of the A494 River Dee Bridge Improvement scheme to investigate options to resolve the existing traffic bottleneck and overcome issues with the existing bridge. On rail connectivity, he said he would be commissioning further work with Network Rail on a new Deeside Parkway and the colocation of Shotton High at Shotton Low, at a new integrated station.
The plans form part of more than £650m of Welsh Government infrastructure improvements in North Wales, with Deeside in particular benefiting from unprecedented Welsh Government investment.
He added: “The investment and initiatives I have outlined will go a long way to address the barriers to accessing jobs in the Deeside Hub.
“They will also form one of the building blocks that will deliver a North East Wales Metro vision of a well-connected and high quality integrated transport system, which maximises active travel opportunities, something which will provide huge benefits for the region.” Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant said he was “delighted” the red route has been chosen.
He said: “The Deeside Corridor is a vital route for businesses. The bottleneck on the A494 has been a problem for a long time, and everyone is keen to see work start to get it sorted.
“My constituents will be pleased, as so many of them, like me, had worries over the blue route.
“The blue route would have increased air pollution at points that are already busy. It would have turned minor roads into major routes, and there were concerns about increasing traffic past Ewloe Green Community Primary School.
“I feel the Cabinet Secretary has made the best decision as the red route delivers a full solution to the current problems with the Deeside Corridor. It will divert industrial and weekend/holiday traffic headed for the coast away from Deeside.
“It will also give people travelling to Deeside Industrial Estate from other areas an alternative route.”
Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami added he felt the impact the blue route would have on his constituents would have been “detrimental”.
He said: “It took a lot of deliberation before coming out in favour of the red route, mainly because of the impact the red route could potentially have on the environment.
“However, having spoken to constituents whose livelihoods would have been affected by the blue route, I felt it was only appropriate that I supported the route that had the least impact on my constituents.”