Llan councillor scores victory in battle of diversion routes

* A thing of the past - Llangollen will no longer be used as the diversion route when the viaducts are closed.

One of the town's county councillors has secured an agreement for the newly re-opened Newbridge Road to become the official diversion route - instead of Llangollen - whenever the viaducts on the A5 and A483 are closed.

Last Friday afternoon the North and Mid Road Traffic Agent (NWMTRA) declared traffic should be diverted through Llangollen after high winds from Storm Amy shut the two viaducts.

That was despite the B5605 Newbridge Road having been re-opened hours earlier following months of remedial work.

* Success: County Cllr Karen Edwards.

This resulted in heavy traffic congestion in Llangollen town centre for the rest of Friday and into Saturday afternoon, with motorists taking to social media to question why Newbridge - which was the standard diversion route before its long temporary closure - could not have been used once again.

This prompted Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards to ask NWMTRA why the Llangollen route had been chosen, especially when Newbridge was open again.

An official told her: "Because we must always utilise trunk roads for our service to accommodate HGV’s etc, drivers can determine their own route if safe to do so."

But she continued to call for a change of route and earlier this afternoon (Wednesday) she heard that she had been successful.

She said: "Further to my previous statement, I have been lobbying NWMTRA regarding using Llangollen as the official standard diversion route when the A483 is closed as I wasn’t satisfied with their initial response.

"I am now pleased to report that today it has been confirmed by NWMTRA that in the event of any future closures of the A483 Dee Viaduct a signed diversion via the B5605 Newbridge Road will be implemented.

"Hopefully, this will reduce some of the traffic pressures we have experienced whilst the Newbridge Road was closed."