TODAY: £200m ‘Deeside Corridor’ transport scheme public information exhibition at Deeside Leisure Centre.

A public information exhibition is being held over the next two days at Deeside Leisure Centre to provide an update on the Welsh Government proposals for a £200m package of major improvements to the A55/A494/A548 Deeside Corridor.

Technical advisers AECOM and Ruthin-based Richards, Moorhead & Laing who are carrying out the next stage of the project are hosting the event on Thursday and Friday (7-18 September 10:00am – 8:00pm)

The aim is to provide an update on the proposals and seek the views of the public on the proposed transport planning objectives.

Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside, said:

“It’s great that the Welsh Government is giving people plenty of time to view the proposals and share their views on these vital road upgrades.

“I look forward to seeing the plans and hope the advisers have come up with a workable solution to improve access to Deeside Enterprise Zone and beat bottlenecks coming into North Wales.

“The Deeside corridor is crucial for both the industrial and the tourist economies locally and across North Wales.”

The two options are:

Blue package

Reducing the demand for car travel, making more efficient use of existing transport infrastructure and capacity enhancements along the existing A55/ A494 corridor. This package includes a number of capacity enhancements to the current A55 and A494 including:

• Widening the A55/A494 route and replacement road bridge crossing the River Dee, if current bridge is insufficient;
• Junction improvements including Ewloe Interchange;

The package also contains measures to:

• Improve and encourage the use of public transport;
• Encourage car-sharing for journeys;
• Provide additional and better quality footways and cycleways;
• Consider opportunities to encourage the use of rail for freight transport

Red Package

Reducing the demand for car travel, making more efficient use of existing transport infrastructure and capacity enhancements along the existing A548 corridor and new road link. This package contains major highway capacity enhancements including:

• Increased capacity along the existing A548;
• A new road between the A55 and A548;
• Improvements to existing structures where possible; The package also contains measures to: • Improve and encourage the use of public transport;
• Encourage car-sharing for journeys;
• Provide additional and better quality footways and cycleways;
• Consider opportunities to encourage the use of rail for freight transport

The selection of the preferred route is expected before the end of 2016.

Transport Minister, Edwina Hart said:

“The Welsh Government is investing in this multi-million pound project which is vital in improving traffic flows and access to North Wales on an important economic route and I’m pleased to see progress being made. This is a good opportunity for people to meet the project team and have their say on the proposals.”

The Government has set aside somewhere in the regions £200m to get to grips with the issues that blight Deeside mainly around the pinch points over the river Dee, access into the enterprise zones and wider north Wales.

The two preferred options aren’t likely to rekindle the controversial A494 road widening scheme scrapped in 2008 by the then Deputy First Minister leuan Wyn Jones.

A high profile campaign by Aston Hill residents forced a planning inquiry into the proposed road widening scheme along the A494 which later resulted in planning inspector siding with residents.

Feature Image: © Copyright Anthony Parkes and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.