Siân Gwenllian MS Working for the people of Arfon

Action needs to be taken to prevent future grid-locks near the Brittannia Bridge and the Parc Menai round-about near Bangor says the local Member of the Senedd.


Diolch i Imogen Longman am y lluniau

Siân Gwenllian MS (Arfon) has raised concerns following the latest incident on the Britannia Bridge on Thursday 12 December, where the bridge was closed after a tall vehicle crashed into its tower. The incident led to a grid-lock and long tail backs at the outskirts of Bangor which took several hours to clear.

Siân Gwenllian is now urging both the Welsh Government and North Wales Police to consider proposals to avoid a similar situation in the future after local people were stuck in their cars for two or three hours in the vicinity of the bridge. The MS has specifically raised the concerns of constituents who work at Parc Menai.

She said:

"The hundreds who are employed at Parc Menai are often adversely affected by any on either of the two bridges that cross the Menai, as the only way in and out of the park is on Britannia Bridge’s slip road roundabout.

"The timing of this last incident was particularly unfortunate, as it coincided with the time when the greatest flow of traffic was leaving Parc Menai towards the end of the working day.

"There were long traffic jams with a number of workers taking two or three hours to leave the park. The situation caused a lot of grievance and difficulty for those who needed to get home because of family caring responsibilities. Many lived in Gwynedd and did not need to cross the bridge, but could not leave the park because of the congestion.

"If the ships had been running from Holyhead to Dublin last week, the situation would have been even worse as the level of traffic would have been significantly higher. In similar past cases where the bridge has been closed, the lorries usually go into Menai Park to park until the bridge reopens. This has caused great risk in terms of access to the park for emergency services.”

Siân Gwenllian has discussed the situation with local people over the past few days, and the MS  believes there are arrangements that could be put in place to avoid similar situations in the future.

“Firstly, North Wales Police needs better traffic management at the roundabout in order to facilitate vehicles leaving the park in a timely manner. I have written to them this week to voice concerns.

“There also needs to be better monitoring and enforcement of the large vehicles that cross the Britannia Bridge, and I have made that point clear to the Police as well.

“Furthermore, when the bridge has to be closed, opening another entrance through land at Parc Menai or the Faenol estate would allow vehicles that do not need to cross the bridge to leave the park, without adding to the congestion leading up to the roundabout.

“I have written to Ken Skates, the Transport Cabinet Secretary in the Welsh Government as owners of the park and those who have responsibility for roads and trunk roads in Wales.

“I very much hope that these recommendations can be implemented and that a meaningful emergency plan will be agreed soon in the new year. Thanks to all the constituents who have reached out the me this week.”