Northern Gateway, Deeside

Progress is finally beginning to be made on the multi-million pound Northern Gateway scheme for which outline planning permission was first granted for housing development, a hotel and technology park back in 2013.

Since then the only visible sign of progress was the completion in 2016 of an access road leading from the B5441 Welsh Road, for which £3.1m was awarded by the Welsh Government. Since then it appeared as if the project had stalled and the road sat unused, however work to clear the land ready for development is now well underway.

A key part of the North Gateway scheme is a 140-acre development lead by Praxis Real Estate Management Ltd. The scheme has outline planning permission for the development consisting of B2 general industrial units and B8 Storage or distribution units, with industrial units ranging in size from 50,000 sq ft up to 1,000,000 sq ft.

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D Morgan PLC which had previously constructed the link road is now the principal contractor for The Airfields development and has already begun work to clear the site. The image below shows the scale of the works that has already been undertaken.

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As well as The Airfields development, detailed proposals have also been submitted by developer Pochin to build 134 houses on the former Corus steelworks site located in Garden City. It is proposed that a total of 725 homes will be constructed over a period of 9 years on the site.

If the full scope of the Northern Gateway development can be realised it is hoped that 5000 jobs will be created in total. If this is to be achieved it is vital that transport links to Northern Gateway and Deeside Industrial Park are improved.

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So far it has been announced that “Red Option” which aims to reduce congestion on the A494 to A55 corridor has been chosen to be taken forward to the planning phase. Enhancements along the A548 and a new section of road to be constructed connecting the Flintshire bridge to the A55 will vastly improve the vital link to Holyhead and help to reduce congestion on the section of the A494 known as Drome Corner leading to Aston Hill.

Plans to improve public transport are also being explored with a proposal put forward to improve Hawarden Bridge station on the Wrexham Bidston line which would serve the Garden City/Corus steelworks development. In addition, plans have been taken forward to explore the feasibility of building a new station on the Wrexham Bidston line that would serve the Deeside Industrial Park

The new station known as Deeside Parkway would be located near to the UPM paper mill and Great Bear distribution centre. If the new station was constructed not only would it provide access for workers from the Wirral and North East Wales to access the Deeside Industrial Park, but it could also serve as a park and ride facility for residents from Flint and Connah's Quay who wish to travel by rail to Liverpool, which has the potential to reduce congestion on the Welsh road leading to the M53. The provision of shuttle buses to serve the Deeside and Garden City areas area are also being considered as part of a wider public transport strategy.

If the plans can be delivered in conjunction with improvements to road and rail links then Northern Gateway has the potential to have far-reaching economic benefits and provide employment not just North East Wales but also the Wirral and Cheshire West. I hope to able to follow the development over the coming years.

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A494 to A55 improvement proposals (part 2)

A494 - A55 Red option

In the first part I described some of the background into the previous attempt to upgrade the A494/A55 corridor, in this second part I will explain in more detail the "Red option" which is currently preferred by the Welsh Government.

The Red option involves construction of roughly 3.5km of new dual carriageway between the A548 and the A55. The proposal also involves grade separating a number of roundabouts along the A548 which provide access to the Deeside Industrial Park.

A494 looking south toward the A550 interchange and Deeside Industrial Park

Although the Red option primarily involves the construction of a new road, there will be some major works involving interfaces with existing roads. A new junction will have to be constructed on top of the junction where the A550 meets the A494, a junction that itself was only completed in 2009. 

Proposed A550/A494/A548 interchange (Click to enlarge)

Image for demonstrative purposes only, not to scale. Alignment is subject to change. 

It appears as if the new junction will be construction so that the A494-A548 route will be the main route to the A55. I assume that signage and lanes will have to be marked in such a way to direct people travelling from England wishing to access the A55 for Wrexham/Chester/Mold via the A494 and those wishing to access the A55 for the North Wales Coast/Anglesey/Holyhead via the new A548 link.

The A548 at the point where it passes the Deeside Industrial Park will be mostly re aligned with the existing carriageway alignment used for exit/entry slips between the new carriageway and roundabouts.

The dumbbell junction on the A584 for Connah's Quay will also have to be relocated as the carriageway will be re aligned to head North West towards the A55. The section of dual A584 currently ends 500 metres after the junction for Connah's Quay. After that the A548 becomes a single carriageway. The current A548 route does eventually meet the A55 but not until it reaches Pensarn some 38km away.

It will be interesting to note if or how the new A584 - A55 link is numbered if it is constructed.

The Welsh government have identified journey time benefits as one of the main benefits of the Red option over that of the Blue option. However there are other potential benefits, such as supporting the case for a new railway station that is proposed within the Deeside Industrial Park on the Wrexham Bidston railway line.

Proposed Deeside Parkway station, image courtesy of the Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users' Association

It is envisaged that the new station as well as providing access to the industrial park for workers, could also provide park and ride facilities for those travelling from Wales wishing to travel to Liverpool. Rather than driving to Liverpool of Hooton station (on the Merseyrail Wirral line), people could park at and travel from Deeside Parkway.

The other obvious benefit over the Blue option is the fact that a lot of the construction will be off the main carriageway. The Blue option involves working on the live carriageway at a point where congestion is already at its worst.

The Red option also provides a diversionary route if problems arise, concurrently the existing A494 would provide access to North Wales if there were problems on the A548. Currently in reality there is only one main route into North Wales and that is the A494-A55 corridor.

Another element to take into consideration is the replacement of the  A494 Dee bridge "which is in a poor structural condition"[1], there are already separate plans being put into place to replace the existing steel and concrete bridge. Replacing the bridge during or after potentially upgrading the A494 would bring with it further disruption. The Red option would at least provide a diversionary route whilst a new bridge is being built.

A decision is expected this year on whether to go ahead and if so which route to progress, so we won't have long to wait. In the meantime you can see how each of the options would look thanks to videos produced by the Welsh Government.

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