£250mn Deeside corridor route gets green light

Economy Secretary Ken Skates has announced the red route as the preferred option for the £250mn Deeside corridor scheme.The preferred option will see the A548 upgraded, with a new road linking the A55 and A548 just after the Flintshire Bridge.The plans form part of over £650mn of Welsh Government infrastructure improvements in North Wales, with Deeside in particular benefiting from unprecedented Welsh Government investment.Included within the investment is improvement to the A494 River Dee bridge, a new Deeside Parkway rail station and cash for bus service improvements on the B5129 Deeside corridor.Skates said the road upgrades will deliver “a huge boost to the economy and the communities of Flintshire and beyond.On rail connectivity, he said he would be commissioning further work with Network Rail on a new Deeside Parkway and the co-location of Shotton High at Shotton Low at a new integrated station.This would enable a seamless interchange for passengers wanting to change between the Wrexham – Bidston line and the North Wales Coast mainline. Further investment of £4.7mn has been committed to facilitating commercial development on top of the £5.5mn already put into the Northern Gateway scheme to continue with building additional road infrastructure to open land for development and attract further businesses to locate at the site.Concerns have been raised about the impact the proposed route could have on surrounding towns likes of Flint and Northop, both of which can already be congested at peak times.