Deeside’s Northern Gateway Project – tender published for phase 1 infrastructure works.

The Welsh Government have put out a tender for the construction of new infrastructure works at the Northern Gateway site.

The Welsh Government are now accepting bids for initial infrastructure works for a new access road north of the River Dee, west of the A494 near Garden City.

The tender document on the Welsh Government procurement website sell2wales.gov.uk says:

‘The construction works is currently limited to the Phase 1 Infrastructure Works  comprising of approximately 0.8 km of single carriageway highway including priority junctions and roundabouts, footways and cycleway links, associated earthworks, drainage, culverts, street furniture, lighting, services, accommodation works, service diversions and environmental mitigation works.’

Deeside Enterprise Zone board chairman David Jones with Carwyn Jones | Picture BBC

Back in February the Welsh Government announced multi-million-pound funding for a new road to run through the Northen Gateway site signalling the next phase of the ambitious project.

The new road will open up 220 acres of land, with capacity to create 5,000 jobs however, the tender document published this week by the Welsh Government is for an access road onto the main site and not for the main highway through the Deeside Enterprise Zone which is expected to take five years top complete.

At the launch of a the scheme in February First Minister Carwyn Jones said the aim of the Northern Gateway site was to build on Deeside Enterprise Zone’s “established strengths” in advanced manufacturing.

“What we want to do is to bring in more investment of that kind, and that means making sure that there’s more access to the land that’s needed to attract that development.

“By making sure this project has started it sends a message out to the world that Deeside is here as a place to create jobs.”