A few weeks ago there were press releases on the Welsh governement website about a new transport strategy document. I've now tracked down this map showing the latest update of the trunk road programme. Previous versions of this map were released in 2002 and 2004.

How old is that map? Number 27 and 28 shouldn't be there any more should they?

Did anyone spot the "M48(M)"?!

They're now in "Phase 3 - High ranking but studies needed to identify best solutions to problems but unlikely to be ready to start before April 2014", rather than "Phase 1 - High ranking and programmed to be ready to start between now and April 2011".

Its web address includes "081204", which I assume means 4 Dec 2008, not 8 Dec 2004.

It's amusing that everything is either "high ranking" or "no ranking applied". Nothing is low ranking.

So its doubly motorway!

That map has 41 potential schemes on it. Five replies so far haven't commented on any of them. Does anybody have anything to say about any of the schemes?(also see comments by another member in another thread about "this is a very positive thread for SABRE")

To be fair, there are other threads on numerous of the schemes - Heads of the Valleys, A55/Ewloe/Aston Hill, A48 past St.Clears, Porthmadog bypass, A470 (and north-south routes in general) and of course the Newport M4 diversion all have had separate threads.

I think the interesting and disappointing thing is that the schemes in the first tranche are relatively modest, and they are all in the more rural areas. The most interesting one is probably the Porthmadog bypass. It still surprises me that they're planning a road across the Glaslyn estuary.

The big stuff is after 2011 - two phases of Heads of the Valleys, M4 Newport, the major Mid Wales bypasses.

Another reason for not commenting much is that this map looks pretty similar to the 2004 and 2002 versions. I haven't yet got round to comparing it with my printed-off copies of them, but at first glance there's not much new.

Surely we have mentioned the Tremadog-Porthmadog-Minffordd by-pass on here before now?

The one that has been little remarked upon is the Caernarfon and Bontnewydd by-pass- that must be about 8-10 miles long and must have to be 4 miles east of Caernarfon to get round without damage to the National Park or World Heritage Site.

Many of the roads already exist for Caernarfon bypass. They merely need improving to trunk standard.

Just a quick reply for now...
in the last week a new proposed route was to be announced ( havn't seen it yet) for the A470 from Builth wells to Newbridge.. this is a bit exciting because it will be 5kms of brand new road over virgin ground with the old route being downgraded but still in use.

This perhaps?

Are they really talking about an outer bypass? Can't they just bypass Bontnewydd as far as the existing A487/A499 roundabout and at the northern end improve the link to the existing Caernarfon throughpass? This throughpass has always seemed perfectly adequate to me, although I can imagine maybe at peak times the roundabout at the northern end with the supermarket and the gyratory at the southern end might get a little congested.

I agree that a de-facto Caernarfon eastern by-pass exists to a degree- but it would need a by-pass around Bontnewydd to the A487/A499 island as has been said; and more serious work north of the A4086, with a new cut, or either a Bethel or a Llanrug by-pass required to pull the A487 on one of a few possible routes to the existing line at Y Felinheli, Faenol or even the A5/A55 junction at Bangor.

Whichever way it goes, however, I expect the existing A487 through and near Caernarfon to become the A499. Likewise with a Porthmadog by-pass, expect the existing A487 to become the A497 [a very simple patch job there] except through Tremadog, where a new number will have to be issued.

There's a possibility that the A499 may become trunk following the current Aberdesach-Llanaelhaearn work.

Good Point Well Made [GPWM]!

It does, after all, lead to Abersoch- where the kids of the establishment in Britain [or is that just England?] have as their Shangri-La.

Mind you, the Welsh Government seem to have sussed this one out- it doesn't appear as a core trunk road on the map. Interestingly, neither does the A5- or even the A483 south of Builth.

Why? That would make the A487 (which is the trunk road for the Welsh coast all the way from Bangor to Fishguard) subordinate to a couple of much less significant routes. Making the Porthmadog bypass the A497 would also create a useless multiplex. One thing the Porthmadog bypass does do (at least, I think it does, I haven't seen the detailed route proposals), is to make it possible for the A497 and A498 to form a continuous route without any spurs, and thus it would be possible to free up one or other of the numbers.


I've seen that too, and I can't see the logic in providing a trunk route to Pwllheli and the Lleyn peninsula, which I'm guessing has a population of only 20,000 or so. Presumably the trunk route would end at Pwllheli rather than Abersoch?

I think you misunderstood....the new road to take the A487 number; and the old [ie. currently existing] parts of the A487 affected to become the A497 and the A499 respectively.

Ah, I see, yes I did misunderstand, sorry. But I suppose that the settlements of Porthmadog, Tremadog and Bontnewydd will be fully bypassed for through traffic on the A road routes, therefore I don't see the rationale for renumbering the old roads through these places with other A road numbers.