A55 problems and alternatives

[Yorkie]

Best way to Heathrow for me was to park up at a friends near Manchester Airport and get a £65 BA flight to Heathrow considering the petrol costs and the long drive it worked for me (commuting)

A55, A483, A5, M54, M6, M5, M40, M25 to Airport

Or from M5 further on take M4 to Airport or cut across via Cirencester and Swindon.
 ££$

Using M6 then M1 is a waste of time.  I go down quite often to see my Daughter.

[Dave]

What about a train ?  Booked in advance it will cost about £15 each way.

[Fester]

Especially if you use.... trainline.com   ...We have saved loads booking trains via that site.

[Hugo]

I've just seen on teletext that a controversial plan for a new lorry park at Park View Garage on the A55  (near Caerwys)   has been turned down by Councillors.
It was to have space for 20 lorries but there were 500 objections including those of the Delyn MP and AM.
If my memory serves me right this is the 2nd time this controversial plan has been submitted and I think Mostyn Estates are the applicants and "landowners"
Llandudno wasn't the only land that Lord Mostyn enclosed and legally stole and I wonder if this land shared the same fate?

[Ian]

Returning from Liverpool,  yesterday, we encountered lane closures (both sides) on the A55 from about 3 miles before Abergele to the start of Llysfaen.  We hit them at about 1.10pm and for the entire length of the coned-off lanes, there was not one single worker, or vehicle in evidence. We slowed to a crawl about half-way through, and no evidence was found as to the cause of that, either.

This is a pattern;  many, many times I've met coned-off lanes ,with nothing and nobody to indicate the reason for coning them off.  I'm pretty sure this sort of thing incurs a cost to businesses, and I sometimes wonder what it is. Perhaps the government could direct its energies to investigating  what these closures are all about and why there are so many with nothing happening in them.

[TheMedz]

We hit the same problem going eastwards at about 1pm but by the time we came back home at about 15:30 they were gone. The only workers I saw were the people putting up the signs and laying out the cones.  I suppose there's a possibility they may  have had the road cleaner out and lifted the cones once it was done.

[Bellringer]

It was the same the day before from the rainbow bridge to nearly Pensarn. We joined the queue going east before the warning "1 mile sign".

[Michael]

TheMedz was half correct, but not wholely correct. Indeed, the cones were protection for cleaning operations. Unfortunately for all the thousands held up by the cones, the cleaners departed having done their job but the cone removers had'nt arrived. Result, three miles of cones in both directions for no purpose, Dont know how long this lasted, but it was certainly in excess of two hours, maybe a lot longer  Mike

[dwsi]

What's going on in the Conwy tunnel? Plenty of cones with nothing happening.

[Hugo]

I know this area like the back of my hand.   Or,  I thought I did. I have no idea where this toparists garden is. I cannot believe this lack of my knowledge. I havent gone around that area so much for maybe the last five years, but even so---        Could anyone fill me in?  Mike

Has the owner of the house seen you coming past Mike!     

A couple more shots of his garden.

[Michael]

Yes----and----(shouting)  THE SAME TO YOU MR TOPARIST

[Hugo]

At 5.30pm yesterday, I was travelling down the west bound side of the A55 from St Asaph and although our single lane was moving freely the traffic in the east bound lane had virtually stopped and was two abrest for Llanddulas all the way to Colwyn Bay.
I'm just glad that I don't have to do that journey every day as it must be a nightmare.
No sooner do they finish one set of works on the A55 then they seem to start another somewhere else on it!

[Jack]

It is a complete nightmare, coming off the A55 and going through Old Colwyn, Llandulas and Abergele is not an option either as the traffic lights in Abergele mean the traffic backs up many miles.  Then there are further road works at Rhuallt Hill and slightly further afield the Chester/Wrexham junction is also closed.
The road simply can't cope with the volume of traffic and lets face it, it is never going to get any better, with no hard shoulder there isn't even the scope for having two 'lanes' open during roadworks.  I accept roadworks are essential, but they seem poorly planned.  What is the betting that even though they are resurfacing this stretch of road, they won't take the opportunity to tarmac the grass verge in the central reservation and give it a few weeks after the road is re-opened it will be back down to one lane so contractors can strim the grass!!!
Rant over

[brumbob]

This brings to mind what was said last October 
THE A55 will be free of roadworks for “the foreseeable future” Welsh Assembly Government chiefs claim.
http://www.denbighshirevisitor.com/news/denbighshire-news/2010/10/27/roadworks-on-the-a55-at-st-asaph-finished-at-last-105722-27545628/

[Quiggs]

I've often wondered, is it really necessary to cut the grass on the A55, if it was left, would it not become a have for wildlife?