Petition launched urging Welsh Government to withdraw support for the Deeside Corridor “Red Route” plan

An online petition has been launched urging Welsh Government to stop plans for a new dual carriageway which will run through “ancient woodland.”

The so-called ‘Red Route’ a £250m scheme aims to ease congestion problems along the Deeside corridor from the border with England at Sealand through to Northop.

Plans will see a new 13km two-lane dual carriageway, linking the A55-A5119 Northop Junction (Junction 33) with the A494 and A550 north of Deeside Parkway Junction, via Kelsterton Interchange and the Flintshire Bridge.

The Red Route was chosen ahead of an alternative ‘Blue Route’ – which would have seen improvements along the A494 Aston Hill and the Ewloe interchange with the A55 – following a 12-week consultation in 2017.

The petition, launched last week, calls on the National Assembly of Wales to urge the Welsh Government to withdraw its support for the Red Route on the grounds that the construction of the new road through ancient woodland, and across agricultural land, “contradicts Planning Policy Wales and the Well-being of Future Generations Act.”

It also states that “recently published plans for a new A494 Dee Bridge, widening of the A494 and other improvements will deliver the Deeside traffic improvements without the need for the ‘Red Route’.

[Two bridges carrying vehicles on A494 over the River Dee in Queensferry]

The petition claims costs used to justify the choice of the Red Route “failed to account for necessary upgrade of the Flintshire Bridge not include the addition of crawler lane at a major congestion point on the A55, the hill out of Northop towards Holywell.”

“The choice of the Red Route was based on unrepresentative traffic surveys” the petition goes on to state and that Welsh Government failed to “adequately consult residents of the Flint and Northop areas despite the major potential impact on their communities.” 

The petition goes on to call for investment in alternative sustainable transport: “The International Panel on Climate Change has called for urgent action to reduce C02 emissions, saying we have only 12 years left to save the world’s climate. We need to be investing our limited resources in sustainable transport like rail.” It says.

The ePetition closes on June – you can view it here