Welsh Government Urged to Speed up Plans for Britannia Bridge
The Welsh Government has recently been urged to speed up plans for a third lane on the A55 Britannia Bridge as congestion continues to worsen.
Rush hour drivers now face queues of at least 10 minutes to cross the bridge which measures only a quarter mile long.
But now Transport Minister Edwina Hard agrees officials need to find short term solutions to the congestion problems that commenters face every day to and from Anglesey.
Long term proposals for a third bridge over the Strait have been continuously pushed back years away as the £100m plans suffer from capital budget setbacks.
The revised National Transport Plan to 2015 sets out a work plan to increase the capacity of the A55 across the Menai to incorporate pedestrians and cyclists.
The Minister was recently questioned in the National Assembly over the prospects of a new bridge with a request to outline a timetable for design work.
Yet Ms Hart stopped short of setting out such a timetable saying: We do have to look at some short term measures. My officials are currently looking across Wales in terms of pinch points with forward work in certain of those areas.
However it has been six years since a consultation by the Welsh Government came up with eight options the pressure is now on representatives as no action has been taken.
Ms Hart responds to this explaining: I think we have to look at this strategically. I have asked officials to see if we can make this work go a little bit faster in terms of how we can look at things. Ill drop you a line when I get a clearer timetable.
