Row over ‘dangerous’ road closure

31 May 2006

A one-kilometre stretch of a major trunk road has been closed after fears falling rocks could injure or kill motorists heading for north Wales beauty spots.
The decision to close the road has caused outrage among local politicians who fear it will have a dramatic effect on the region’s tourist industry which is only now getting over the lost revenue caused by the foot and mouth outbreak.
The A5 between Dinmael, Conwy and Ty Nant closed last week causing traffic chaos over the bank holiday weekend as drivers used alternative routes around the north of Wales.
Transport Wales, the Welsh Assembly trunk road manager, is now in discussions with landowners about reopening the old A5 running parallel to the route in a bid to take pressure off local authority routes. The old A5 was closed when the new road opened a decade ago, but the majority of the surface is believed to still be there.
But Conwy County Borough Council leader Edward Goronwy was disgusted with the Welsh Assembly’s slow response.
He said: ‘They have known since about 2002 that the anchors above the road have been failing and recent studies have shown the problem is getting worse. In four years the Welsh Assembly did nothing to speak to landowners on the old road so that when this closure came in the old A5 was already open.’
The talks had only just begun and some of the landowners were demanding compensation in advance before they let anyone on to their land, signalling a potentially lengthy process.
Goronwy had been told by the Welsh Assembly that the road could be closed for up to six months.
In the meantime heavy goods vehicles heading to the port of Holyhead would be redirected on to other routes, one of which runs through Snowdonia National Park, a situation Goronwy described as ‘not ideal’.
A spokesman for Transport Wales described Goronwy’s comments as ‘not helpful’. He said: ‘It is rubbish to suggest we have known about this since 2002.
‘We knew there were problems with one or two of the anchors but it was only last week when we discovered the whole thing was unstable. If it collapsed tens of thousands of tonnes of rocks would come down and there is of course potential for a major accident.’ He added that staff from Transport Wales was working ‘24-seven’ to ensure that negotiations with landowners were completed quickly.

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