Summer deadline for selection of third Menai crossing route

The public consultation on the third Menai Strait crossing has closed, the chairman of Anglesey’s Enterprise Zone has said, with the final route option set to be announced by the summer.

The consultation, which gave local residents and firms the opportunity to comment on four options for the crossing, opened in December.

The four options involved improvements at A55 Junction 8A at Llanfairpwll and either an extension of the existing Britannia Bridge or a new bridge to the east or west of the Britannia Bridge.

Bridge options outlined in the consultation include an extrados two-span bridge over the strait, a cable-stay bridge or a balanced cantilever bridge. The consultation also asked for views on whether the bridge should be two or four-lanes in width.

Environmental constraints which have had to be considered for the new route include the marine character area and the Isle of Anglesey’s area of outstanding natural beauty and the island’s shoreline, much of which was designed in the 19th century.

Listed buildings including Thomas Telford’s Iron Suspension Bridge and Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge.

Neil Rowlands, chair of Anglesey Enterprise Zone advisory board, said: “Most business owners who live on the Island or who split their time between Anglesey and other sites do so because of the opportunities here for business but also for the exceptional quality of life we have in these parts.

“Investing in the A55 at the Menai Strait will improve capacity, reliability and journey times as well as strengthen the network’s resilience and ensure that our road network is ready for major projects such as Wylfa Newydd.

“Our business community on Anglesey has an important role to play in feeding in to the consultation process and we’re grateful to all who took the time to submit their views.”

On Wednesday Wales’s economy and infrastructure secretary Ken Skates officially opened the first two sections of the £4m Llangefni link road on the island.

The road forms part of Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s masterplan to develop their Llangefni Campus as an internationally-renowned Energy & Engineering Training Facility, which has been given £10.6m of funding  from Welsh Government.

Welsh Government aims to start construction on the third crossing by the end of 2020.

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Forget about a third road crossing. Waste of money. Improve capacity and speed of rail connections between Anglesey and Manchester, Liverpool, Crewe and London.

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