Roads in the area

[hollins]

I hope everyone did escape unharmed as the report says. I was taking my mum home and got caught up the the traffic jam just after Denbigh/St Asaph. The trip took about 2 hours longer than normal but at least we are safe. While we we queuing up the hill a police car brought an Alpine coach up through the jam, obviously to pick up the poor stranded passengers.
We were taken off at the junction at the top of the hill so I retreated back down the A55 and carried on through Trefnant to Mold and back to the A55 at Queensferry.

[SteveH]

A55: Welsh Government's seeks millions in EU cash to improve road

A multi-million pound EU funding bid to improve the A55 and turn Holyhead into a key link on the European transport network has been made by the Welsh Government.
Transport Minister Edwina Hart made the announcement as she explores how Brussels can help to pay to maintain the region’s key trunk road.

A government source told the Daily Post that the A55 was eligible for the bid on the basis that the money would be used to remove bottlenecks that “hamper the smooth functioning of the internal (European) market”.
The road is seen as key because it is the main link between Ireland and the UK and on to mainland Europe.

The funding bid has been submitted to the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) “motorways of the sea” project but the Welsh Government refused to say how much money it had applied for from the EU.

Ms Hart also reiterated the Welsh Government’s commitment to invest millions of pounds in North Wales’s transport network over the next few years.

Key pledges include;   http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/a55-welsh-governments-seeks-millions-9522001

[Nemesis]

The coast Road past Bodafon Fields is being re-surfaced ( Thank goodness ), but traffic lights are causing queuing and delays. Trouble is that too many large vehicles are trying to get around this via Bodafon Rd and Bryn-y-Bia and it makes using the road quite hairy !

[Ian]

Three motorcyclists dead in separate incidents:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-33755093

[Dave]

Three motorcyclists dead in separate incidents:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-33755093

Not exactly in the area Ian. I wonder how many of the three fatalities were rider error?

[Ian]

No idea Dave, but they weren't young guys.

[Dave]

When they released figures the other year the surprising factor was that the average age of a Welsh motorbike fatality was mid fifties. I guess they are the age group that can finance the big fast bikes and the fuel to run them. Being a non biker and past the age of needing to regain my youth I was amazed at the cost of biking.

[DaveR]

When they released figures the other year the surprising factor was that the average age of a Welsh motorbike fatality was mid fifties. I guess they are the age group that can finance the big fast bikes and the fuel to run them. Being a non biker and past the age of needing to regain my youth I was amazed at the cost of biking.

You see them every weekend around Snowdonia. Middle aged men on powerful bikes. I'm sure Freud would have a lot to say about them...

[Ian]

I found it very odd that BBC Wales' 1830 TV News bulletin last night contained no mention of the Propane Tanker fire on the M56. It was the Westbound carriageway on which the fire occurred, and that would have been the very place where large numbers of North Wales commuters might have been attempting to make their way home. 

[Hugo]

A tunnel on one of Wales' busiest commuter routes faces nightly closures for up to nine weeks as new lighting is installed as part of a £42m upgrade.

The westbound carriageway of the A55 Penmaenbach tunnel will be completely closed at night with just one lane open during the day from 18 October



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-34486535

[Ian]

From the DP:

Nearly 1,500 vehicles have been involved in smashes on the A55 over the last three years sparking calls for a safety review. And there has been a worrying rise in crashes by almost half during that period, involving cars, vans, motorbikes and lorries, figures have revealed.

Between October 2012 and September 2013 there were 335 on North Wales’ main dual carriageway. That had risen to 484 from October 2014 to September 2015 – about a 44% increase.

Full story:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/crashes-a55-rise-half-last-10285645#rlabs=2%20rt$sitewide%20p$1

[Hugo]

Yesterday at approx 4.45 pm I was driving along the A470 from Betws Y Coed and came to the Black Cat roundabout in Glan Conwy.   I needed some groceries so I took the slip road to Tesco's at Llandudno Junction.
As soon as I was on the slip road I realised that it was a big, big mistake.   The A55 was grid locked and it took about 30 minutes just to get to the Tesco roundabout and it was grid locked there too.
I turned around and went to Morrison's in Colwyn Bay instead.
I feel sorry for the daily commuters on this stretch of the A55

[DVT]

I don't think there'll ever come a time when the A55 is clear.

Yesterday my mother-in-law had an appointment at Ysbyty Gwynedd at 11am.  My wife was concerned about parking so I offered to take them as I could drive away and return when they phoned to say they were ready.

Fortunately my car has Sat Nav and it immediately showed a red line from Conwy to Bangor with the warning symbols.  Although this was at 10am (I was in the Junction) it gave an ETA of 1130, so we would have been late.

I went into Conwy and over Sychnant Pass, getting to the A55 immediately before the tunnel leading to Llanfairfechan.  Then had a clear run and we arrived at Ysbyty Gwynedd at 1045 ... 45 minutes earlier than the original ETA.

I don't know what had happened to cause such a delay - on our return we had a non-stop run eastwards along the A55 and all we saw were some workers near the Puffin roundabout where the road went into one lane.  It must have been lunch-break as they were sitting on the armco!

What I find mildly amusing is that the press have given the reason for the single-lane working for the next two months as being to improve lighting to improve safety (how does that work) and to avoid constant future work - now that last statement I do not believe for one moment.

[Bosun]

And it will get worse.....

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/a55-two-year-traffic-misery-10295540

[FatAndy]

Yesterday at approx 4.45 pm I was driving along the A470 from Betws Y Coed and came to the Black Cat roundabout in Glan Conwy.   I needed some groceries so I took the slip road to Tesco's at Llandudno Junction.As soon as I was on the slip road I realised that it was a big, big mistake.   The A55 was grid locked and it took about 30 minutes just to get to the Tesco roundabout and it was grid locked there too.

There was an accident in the roadworks on the Westbound side just after 4.00pm so the queues were probably far worse than they normally would have been (although I'm sure they'd have been bad enough anyway).