A55 road

A55 road
The A55 at Warren Mountain.
Route information
Part of
Length:	87 mi (140 km)
Major junctions
East end:	Chester
West end:	Holyhead
Location
Primary destinations:	Conwy Bangor
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways • A and B road zones

The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway, is a major road in Britain. Its entire length is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception of the point where it crosses the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. All junctions are grade separated except for two roundabouts — one east of Penmaenmawr and one in Llanfairfechan. The road originally ran from Chester to Bangor but was extended parallel to the A5 across Anglesey right into Holyhead Docks in 2001. The road improvements have been part funded with European money, under the Trans-European Networks programme, as the route is designated part of Euroroute E22 (Holyhead - Leeds - Amsterdam - Hamburg - Malmoe - Riga - Moscow - Perm - Ekaterinburg - Ishim).

Route

The Chester Southerly Bypass

The A55 runs west from its junction with the M53 motorway near Chester, where it is known as the Chester Southerly Bypass, crossing the River Dee and the Welsh border before passing close to Broughton then passing north of Buckley and Northop. There is a major climb westbound between Broughton and Buckley (Junctions 35a to 35) though with no crawler lane. There is a difficult junction with the A494 at Junction 34/33b and the road briefly has a three lane section as traffic joins from Queensferry and leaves towards Mold. In the eastbound direction there is also a short three lane section for the same reason. In the eastbound direction there is also a 270 degree speed limited single lane curve to climb up and over the A55/A494. There were plans that might have affected this often congested junction as part of the A494 Queensferry to Ewloe improvement but the Welsh Assembly Government rejected these on 26 March 2008 as being of too large a scale.^[1] However, a scheme for improving the A55/A494 Junction is planned to go ahead and includes widening the dual carriageway to three lanes between Ewloe roundabout and Junction 33 (Northop). Junction 33A at Northop Hall and Junction 33B with the A494 for Mold would be closed and a new junction for all traffic flows will be constructed near the Northop Hall service station for the A494 traffic. This proposal will remove all weaving traffic at the A55 junction with the A494 and remove the infamous 270 degree trumpet junction. Work might start by April 2010.^{[2][dated info]}

Ewloe to Colwyn Bay

Climbing up Rhuallt Hill eastwards.

From Ewloe, the road is relatively flat until after Northop when it climbs up onto the flanks of Halkyn Mountain range, passing to the southwest of Holywell with major climbs between Northop and Halkyn (Junctions 33 and 32b) and Halkyn and Holywell Summit (Junctions 32 and 31). This section of road is notorious for poor weather conditions including fog, ice and snow in winter months. In fine weather, however there are extensive views over the River Dee estuary to the Wirral Peninsula, Liverpool and beyond. The highest part of the road is in the vicinity of Brynford at around 790 feet (240 m). The steep descent towards St Asaph is down the new Rhuallt Hill (Junctions 29 to 28), which also provides the first views of the mountains of Snowdonia in the far distance. There is a crawler lane on Rhuallt Hill for eastbound traffic. The road bypasses St Asaph to the north, and runs past Bodelwyddan and Abergele to reach the North Wales coast at Pensarn (Junction 23A). From here onwards to Bangor, the route is close to the North Wales Coast railway.

Colwyn Bay Bypass

Part of the route (Junction 23) Llanddulas to (Junction 17) Conwy is signed as a 70 mph (110 km/h) speed limit (as opposed to most of the other sections of the A55, which are the National Speed Limit) and is a non-motorway special road, which has restrictions on access by pedestrian and other traffic, similar to the restrictions applied to a motorway. There is also a stretch passing through Colwyn Bay (Old Colwyn to Mochdre) signed as a 50 mph (80 km/h) limit. These restrictions are imposed as added safety precautions because the slip-roads in this stretch are unusually short because of the difficulty of fitting the road into a very narrow area of land, and, due to the road underpassing much of the town, to reduce road surface noise levels. The section from west of Colwyn Bay railway station to the Station Road overbridge at Mochdre was constructed on the trackbed of the North Wales Coast railway. The former 4 track railway was reduced to the two more northerly tracks to make space for the road.

The Conwy Bypass

Approaching the tunnel from the west.

The crossing of the estuary of the River Conwy is by means of an immersed tube tunnel, the first of its kind constructed in the United Kingdom.^[3]

The decision to construct an immersed tube tunnel bypass followed an extensive public consultation, named the Collcon Feasibility Study. This ruled out another bridge by the castle on aesthetic grounds, since it would have damaged the view of the world heritage site Conwy Castle, and the two bridges by Robert Stephenson and Thomas Telford. Another alternative bridge crossing was proposed at Deganwy, but this too was ruled out for aesthetic reasons. An inland alternative with heavy grades which would have passed over Bwlch y Ddeufaen pass at 430 metres (1,410 ft), following the old Roman road, was also worked up but rejected for cost and utility reasons.

The tunnel was constructed by a Costain/Tarmac Construction joint venture,^[4] as pre-formed concrete sections, and then floated into position over a pre-prepared trench in the bed of the estuary. The 3million tonnes of silt and mud extracted to create the trench in which the tunnel sections sat, were vacuumed to one side of the construction site, as to let them drift down river would have harmed the large mussel fishing beds downstream. The silt was deposited upstream of the bridge at Conwy which created a large new area of low lying land which was subsequently given to the RSPB for a wildlife preserve. The casting basin for the tunnel sections was later converted into a new marina in the lower estuary. Because of the valuable fishery in the river and also because of the history of heavy metal mining in the catchment of the river, extensive ecological assessments were made both prior to the construction of the tunnel and subsequently. These studies finally concluded that no significant environmental damage had been caused.

After five years of construction, the tunnel was opened in October 1991. It initially had an advisory 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) speed limit, but this was dropped in 2007 as accidents were rare in the tunnels.

Pen-y-clip and Penmaenbach tunnels

An easterly view of the A55 at Penmaenmawr with the North Wales Coast Railway on the seaward side. The Penmaenbach Tunnels are in the distance

The construction of the coastal section of the road involved major civil engineering works, with hard rock tunnels passing through the cliffs in two places. In the westbound direction both the Penmaenbach and the Pen-y-clip tunnels (east and west of Penmaenmawr respectively) were initially subject to advisory 50mph speed limits but these were lifted in 2007 as there had been few accidents. In the Eastbound direction, the road still uses the 1930s cliffhugging route at both locations. The eastbound carriageway at Penmaenbach is subject to a 30 mph (50 km/h) speed limit due to sharp curves and double white lines nominally preclude lane changing. Plans to rectify the awkward alignment by building another tunnel parallel to the current westbound tunnel (as originally intended when the westbound tunnel was proposed) have been discussed for several years. The original Telford road around the cliffs is now a cycleway at both locations although at Pen-y-Clip it cannot be used in an easterly direction without cycling the wrong way along the westbound carriageway. Recent work (late 2007) at Penmaenbach eastbound has seen the erection of gantries to close lanes when bidirectional working is in place.

Penmaenmawr to Anglesey

Some sections of the rest of the route are of lower standard than that of those further east. Some traffic leaves for major holiday destinations such as Caernarfon or the Llŷn Peninsula, though much continues on to the port of Holyhead. As such part of the route is not classed as clearway and has two at grade junctions (roundabouts), Penmaenmawr (Junction 16) and Llanfairfechan (Junction 15). The Bangor bypass, in which the road previously terminated and became the A5 regains high standards and is such through the Anglesey section, bar the Britannia Bridge, which is a single carriageway deck above the North Wales Coast railway over the Menai Strait. In 2007 the Welsh Assembly Government undertook a consultation to determine which of four options would be preferred for a second crossing. This section intersects with the A487 towards Caernarfon, and the west coast of North Wales.

Anglesey

Looking east along the road in Anglesey with the mountains of Snowdonia in the background.

The final section of the A55 to be constructed was the Anglesey section. This 20 mile (32 km) section from the end of the Llanfairpwll bypass to Holyhead Harbour was constructed as Private Finance Initiative scheme where the builders, a Carillion / John Laing joint venture, earn a shadow toll based on usage and lane availability. They also have to maintain the road for the extended period of their shadow toll agreement. When travelling eastbound along this section there are fine views of Snowdonia. The approach to Holyhead required major work with a new section over the sea paralleling the Stanley Embankment that carries the original A5 and the North Wales Coast railway.

Planned improvements

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) published its National Transport Plan in July 2009. ^[5] This includes mention of improvements to the A55 including the possible removal of the two roundabouts at Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan.

History

The A55 partly follows the alignment of the Roman road from Chester (Deva) to Caernarfon (Segontium), particularly from Junction 31 to 30 and Junction 13 to 12. Between Chester and Holywell the alignment of this road is uncertain and between St. Asaph and Abergele, the Roman road followed an inland route avoiding the difficulties of the crossing of the Conwy estuary and the cliffs at Penmaenbach and Pen-y-Clip.

A55 opening dates of major improvements

• Unknown date 1930s? Ewloe to Northop avoiding Northop Hall
• Unknown date 1930s? Northop Bypass
• Unknown date 1930s? Holywell Bypass
• Unknown date 1930s? St. Asaph to Rhuallt dual carriageway
• Unknown date 1930s? Short section of 'experimental' concrete road west of St Asaph
• 1932 Penmaenbach Tunnel
• 1935 Pen-y-Clip Tunnels
• 1958 Conway new bridge avoiding Telford's suspension bridge
• 1960s Tai'r Meibion to Tan-y-lon dual carriageway east of Bangor
• 1964? Ewloe roundabout (part of the A494 Queensferry to Ewloe dualling, the 'Aston Bypass')
• Unknown date 1965? Llysfaen dualling
• 1968 Abergele Bypass
• 1970 St. Asaph Bypass
• 1975 Northop Hall Crossroads to East of Gables
• 1976 Coed-y-Cra to Chaingates (Holywell)
• 1976 Chester Southerly Bypass (terminating at Broughton)
• 1980 Britannia Bridge and link roads
• December 1980 Holywell By-Pass (Stage 1)
• March 1981 Diversion East of Abergele
• December 1983 Bangor By-Pass
• Unknown Date Llanfairpwll By-Pass
• September 1984 Hawarden By-Pass (from a point east of Broughton on the Chester Southerly Bypass to Northop Hall)
• December 1984 Llanddulas to Glan Conwy (Colwyn Bay By-Pass, Stage 1)
• June 1985 Llanddulas to Glan Conwy (Colwyn Bay By-Pass, Stage 2)
• October 1986 Holywell By-Pass (Stage 2)
• December 1986 Bodelwyddan By-Pass
• June 1989 Penmaenbach Tunnel
• June 1989 Northop By-Pass (Northop Hall to Halkyn)
• October 1989 Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan By-Passes (excluding Pen-y-Clip Tunnel)

• May 1990 Travellers' Inn Improvement
• 1991 tunnel crossing of the River Conwy
• June 1991 Extension of Chester Bypass to M53 (Junction 12)
• May 1992 Rhuallt Hill Improvement
• October 1993 Pen-y-Clip Tunnel
• October 1994 Abergwyngregyn Improvement
• 16 March 2001 Anglesey section (Llanfairpwll to Holyhead)
• 2000/2004 Penmaenmawr eastbound slip road and grade separation at the summit of the Rhuallt Hill
• 2004 Improvements to railway underbridges and cliffs at Penmaenbach (eastbound)
• 2007 Alterations to roundabout at Llanfairfechan and bidirectional road indicators at Penmaenbach (eastbound)
• 2008 New overbridge between Junction 32A and 32B for improved local access

Junctions

A55 Road
km	Westbound exits (B Carriageway)	Junction	Eastbound exits (A Carriageway)
0.0	Holyhead Ferry Port	Terminus [coord 1]	Start of Road
0.5	Holyhead Town centre A5154 Amlwch A5 (A5025)	Road junction	Holyhead Town centre A5154 Amlwch A5 (A5025)
0.7	Trearddur Bay B4545	J1 Roundabout	Trearddur Bay B4545
1.2 2.0	A5153	J2	A5153
7.1 7.7	Caergeiliog, Valley A5 Amlwch A5025	J3	Caergeiliog, Valley A5 Amlwch A5025
9.6 10.2	Caergeiliog, RAF Valley, Bryngwran A5	J4	Caergeiliog, RAF Valley, Bryngwran A5
14.0 14.6	Bryngwran, Gwalchmai A5 Rhosneigr A4080	J5	Bryngwran, Gwalchmai A5 Rhosneigr A4080
23.2 24.0	Pentre Berw, Gwalchmai A5 Llangefni A5114	J6	Pentre Berw A5 Llangefni A5114
27.8 28.6	Gaerwen A5152	J7	Gaerwen A5152
31.3	No access Llanfair PG A5	J7A	No exit Access only
32.9 33.4	Llanfair PG, Benllech A5025	J8	Llanfair PG, Benllech A5025
33.8	No access Llanfair PG, Menai Bridge A5	J8A	No exit Access only
34.1 34,4	Britannia Bridge	Bridge [coord 2]	Britannia Bridge
35.3 35.6	Bangor, Menai Bridge, Ysbyty Gwynedd A487	J9	Caernarfon, Menai Bridge, Ysbyty Gwynedd A487
36.4 37.0	Caernarfon, Bangor A4087	J10	Bangor A4087
40.3 40.9	Bangor, Bethesda A5 B4366	J11	Bethesda A5 B4366
43.6 44.2	Talybont	J12	Talybont
47.2 47.5	Abergwyngregyn	J13	Abergwyngregyn
48.9 49.2	Llanfairfechan	J14	Llanfairfechan
51.7	Llanfairfechan	J15 Roundabout	Llanfairfechan
52.8 53.7	Pen-y-Clip Westbound Tunnel (930 m)[6]	Tunnel	Two short tunnels
53.8 54.2	access only No exit	J15A	Penmaenmawr
56.2	Penmaenmawr	J16 Roundabout	Penmaenmawr
57.8 57.8	Dwygyfylchi	J16A	No exit
58.4 59.1	Penmaenbach Westbound Tunnel (658 m)[6]	Tunnel	Penmaenbach Eastbound Headland Tunnel(172 m)[6]
60.4 61.0	Conwy A547	J17	Conwy A547
61.8 62.9	Conwy Road Tunnel (1080 m)[6] Restictions apply	Tunnel [coord 3]	Conwy Road Tunnel Restictions apply
63.6 64.2	Conwy (A547)	J18	Llandudno Junction A546
64.8 65.5	Llandudno, Llanrwst A470 Llandudno Junction	J19	Llandudno, Llanrwst A470 Colwyn Bay (A547) Llandudno Junction
68.7 69.8	Colwyn Bay, Mochdre, Penrhyn Bay B5115	J20	Colwyn Bay, Mochdre, Penrhyn Bay B5115
70.6 71.0	Colwyn Bay A547	J21	Colwyn Bay A547
71.5 72.0	Old Colwyn A547	J22	Old Colwyn A547
	Start of Special road		End of Special road
76.0 76.1	Llanddulas A547 Prohibited Traffic	J23	Llanddulas A547
80.0 80.4	Access only No exit	J23A	Pensarn, Abergele A548 No access
81.2 81.9	Abergele, Rhuddlan A547	J24	Abergele, Rhuddlan A547
84.6	no access St. George, Towyn	J24A	No exit no access
86.7 86.8	Bodelwyddan, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd	J25	Bodelwyddan, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd
88.2 88.8	St Asaph Business Park	J26	St Asaph Business Park
89.9 90.6	St Asaph, Trefnant, Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Rhyl A525	J27	St Asaph,Trefnant, Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Rhyl A525
91.6 91.6	St Asaph A525	J27A	No exit No access
92.9 93.2	Rhuallt, Rhuddlan B5429	J28	Rhuallt B5429
96.7 97.3	Rhuallt	J29	Rhuallt
99.0 99.3	Pen-y-Cefn	J30	Pen-y-Cefn
100.3 100.8	Trelawnyd A5151 Caerwys B5122	J31	Holywell A5151 Caerwys B5122
108.7 108.8	no access Holywell A5026	J32	Holywell A5026 Halkyn, Pentre Halkyn No access
109.3 109.9	Pentre Halkyn	J32A	No exit Access only
111.3 111.4	Halkyn	J32B	No exit No access
114.6 115.3	Northop, Flint, A548 Coast Road A5119	J33	Northop, Flint, Mold A5119
116.5	No access Connah's Quay B5126	J33A	No exit No access
117.8 117.9	No exit		Northop Hall
120.0	No access Mold A494	J33B	No exit Access only
120.5 128.8	Ewloe, Queensferry A494 Manchester (M56)	J34 "Totso"[See notes]	Ewloe, Queensferry A494 Manchester (M56)
123.1 123.6	Hawarden, Buckley, Corwen A550	J35	Hawarden, Wrexham A550
125.3 125.9	Penyffordd	J35A	Broughton, Saltney A5104
128.5	no access Broughton (A5104)		No exit Access only
128.6	Entry into England	Border	Entry into Wales
	Wrexham, Chester A483	J36	Wrexham, Chester A483
	Access only No exit	J36a	Chester A5115 Whitchurch (A41) No access
	Chester Nantwich, Northwich A51 Whitchurch (A41)	J37	Chester Nantwich, Northwich A51
	Start of road	M53 J12 [coord 4]	Chester, Helsby A56 Non-motorway traffic
	Chester, Helsby A56		Road continues as M53 to Wallasey
Notes Data[7] from location marker posts are used to provide distance and carriageway identification information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown. Totso = "Turn off to stay on" meaning that the driver must leave the main carriageway to stay on the specified (A55) route.
Motorway •      Primary road •      Secondary road      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

Coordinate list

1. ^ 53°18′32″N 4°37′44″W / 53.3089°N 4.6290°W / 53.3089; -4.6290 (Holyhead Ferry Terminal) Start of A55 - Holyhead Ferry Port
2. ^ 53°12′58″N 4°11′08″W / 53.2161°N 4.1856°W / 53.2161; -4.1856 (Britannia Bridge) Britannia Bridge - crosses the Menai Straits
3. ^ 53°17′15″N 3°49′26″W / 53.2875°N 3.8240°W / 53.2875; -3.8240 (Conwy Tunnel) Conwy Tunnel - Crossing of the Conwy Estuary
4. ^ 53°12′42″N 2°51′13″W / 53.2116°N 2.8536°W / 53.2116; -2.8536 (A55 Terminus - start of M53) End of the A55 - becomes the M53

References

1. ^ Welsh Assembly Government - Decision on A494 Drome Corner to Ewloe scheme
2. ^ Welsh Assembly Government website^{[dead link]}
3. ^ BBC News - Conwy Tunnel praised on 20th anniversary
4. ^ Motoway archive
5. ^ Welsh Government | National Transport Plan
6. ^ ^{a b c d} "Tunnels". North Wales Trunk Road Agency. 2011. http://www.northwales-tra.gov.uk/index.php?id=329&L=0. Retrieved 2011-09-04. 
7. ^ "Resources". Traffig Cymru/Traffic Wales. http://www.traffic-wales.com/resources. Retrieved 2011-0822. "Select Telephone & marker post locations." 

External links

• Traffic Wales - containing A55 webcams
• SABRE Roaders Digest - A55
• Images of diversion of North Wales Coast Railway at Colwyn Bay to accommodate A55
• BBC News - Engineers look at more A55 relief - 03/09/2004
• The Motorway Archive - A55
• The Chester-Bangor Trunk Road (A55) (Rhuallt Hill Improvement and Slip Roads) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2091)
• Other Statutory Instruments pertaining to the A55
• Roads UK: A55

Coordinates: 53°18′00″N 3°44′16″W / 53.30004°N 3.73769°W / 53.30004; -3.73769