A55

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AndrewH
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A55

Post by AndrewH »

A few questions about the A55

When was the current dual carriageway route built, I'm thinking mostly about the Queensferry to Abergele inland section.

Was there always a route along this general alignment using the number A55 or was this new when they built the dual carriagway.

If there was always an A55 in this area, what roads now are part of what the old route used to be (presumably some of the A roads passing through Holywell etc)
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Steven
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Re: A55

Post by Steven »

AndrewH wrote:Was there always a route along this general alignment using the number A55 or was this new when they built the dual carriagway.

If there was always an A55 in this area, what roads now are part of what the old route used to be (presumably some of the A roads passing through Holywell etc)
Take a look at the all-new SABRE Maps, accessible via the "Maps" item in the top yellow menu. Type "A55" into the "Find a road" box on the left hand side, and select one of the out-of-copyright maps.

It's dead good.
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nowster
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Re: A55

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Jonathan B4027
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Re: A55

Post by Jonathan B4027 »

That hill at Rhaullt is a beast !
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wrinkly
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Re: A55

Post by wrinkly »

One or two sections of the A55 were dualled before WWII or in the 1950s - Northop Hall to east of Northop, and Waen Gate to St Asaph. They have since been altered and don't now look much like their original dualled forms.

Three sections were dualled around 1967-68: St Asaph bypass (new build), Abergele bypass (new build), Aber to Tair Meibion (on line dualling).

Some dualling was done in the 1970s, at Halkyn and east of Abergele. The Chester southern bypass was opened in 1976.

All the rest was done between the early 80s and mid 90s, e.g. Hawarden bypass 1983, Colwyn Bay 1985, Conwy tunnel 1991, Penmaenbach westbound tunnel late 80s, Pen-y-clip westbound tunnel early 90s, Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan bypasses 1989, Bangor and Llanfairpwll bypasses 1983, Britannia Bridge road deck 1980, rest of Anglesey 2001.

The section from the middle of the Bangor bypass, over the Britannia bridge and on to Holyhead was known as A5 until 2001.

I've contributed to articles in the SABRE Wiki on the Conwy, Penmaenbach and Pen-y-clip tunnels.
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nowster
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Re: A55

Post by nowster »

Jonathan B4027 wrote:That hill at Rhaullt is a beast !
You have taken the old S2+1 road that wanders down Rhuallt Hill too?
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Re: A55

Post by Glenn A »

Technically speaking the A55 in Anglesey is a new road to by pass the largely S2 A5, and would have been called the A5 but for the fact the detrunked A5 number was retained for zonal purposes. Also the locals might like the idea of keeping the old road number to remind them of the old days.
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Re: A55

Post by timbucks »

Glenn A wrote:Technically speaking the A55 in Anglesey is a new road to by pass the largely S2 A5, and would have been called the A5 but for the fact the detrunked A5 number was retained for zonal purposes. Also the locals might like the idea of keeping the old road number to remind them of the old days.
Looking at a map of Anglesey I can't see any roads that would suddenly be in the wrong zone if the A5 was the number for the D2.
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wrinkly
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Re: A55

Post by wrinkly »

Retaining the A5 number for the old road across Anglesey, rather than transferring it to the new dual carriageway, was certainly a very unusual thing to do. I very much doubt that they did it for zonal purposes. That sounds like a flight of Sabristic imagination. I think they did it because they wanted to make the most of Telford's historic road (including the Menai bridge and Stanley embankment) as a tourist attraction.

Another reason may have been that "A55" was by then a well-known "brand" for a high-standard road across N. Wales; by then, plans for major improvements to the A5 on the mainland had been dropped.

(They renamed the western half of the Bangor bypass, the Britannia bridge road deck and the Llanfairpwll bypass from A5 to A55; renamed the ex-A5 through Bangor, over the Menai bridge and through Llanfairpwll back to A5; and renamed as A5 a section of road that had never been A5 before, south of Llandygai.)
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Jonny A46
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Re: A55

Post by Jonny A46 »

In the 1922 list the A55 went from Bangor to Chester so, apart from extending it to Holyhead via new construction paralleling the A5 (the A55 over Anglesey was never the A5 itself, but it has superseded the A5), the majority of the changes to its route have simply been by-passes. With regard to its original route into Chester, I think it took the B5129 and the A5104 to the centre.

I agree with wrinkly that a possible reason for making the new dual carriageway over Anglesey the A55 was because of its reputation, whereas the A5, though a fairly good road for Wales, isn't associated with a high quality route in the same way.
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Pendlemac
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Re: A55

Post by Pendlemac »

nowster wrote:
Jonathan B4027 wrote:That hill at Rhaullt is a beast !
You have taken the old S2+1 road that wanders down Rhuallt Hill too?
It used to be fun overtaking up the hill on the old road with the corners!
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Re: A55

Post by WHBM »

I can remember the A55 across North Wales from the late 1960s through the 1970s. It was renowned across the North-West of England for delays in the summer. The worst had been at Queensferry, which had been overcome by the current dual carriageway there before this time.

The bulk of the road was S2 along pretty much the current alignment between towns. Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay were the other huge congestion point, there was still a railway level crossing at Llandudno Junction across the Llandudno line which caused huge delays; eastbound these often stretched back into and before Conway.

For a journey from the Wirral to Anglesey on a summer Saturday it was normally quicker to route from Queensferry via Denbigh, Bettws-y-Coed and the A5.

An old (even then) taxi driver in the Wirral once told me that in the early 1960s, before any work at Queensferry was finished, it would take three to four hours each way on Summer Saturdays from the Wirral to Llandudno, a favourite point for the old retired ladies of the area to go on holiday by taxi to. He once did "three Llandudnos in one day", starting at 6 am and finishing near midnight. Llandudno is quite visible from the Wirral on a good day !
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wrinkly
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Re: A55

Post by wrinkly »

The viaduct over the Llandudno branch railway at Llandudno Junction, which carries what is now the A547 and was then the A55, must have been opened about 1968. I can remember it was at a fairly early stage of construction in 1967.

When the Conwy tunnel was built, a section of the viaduct had to be cut out and replaced, because the original supports were too close together to leave room for the new A55 (tunnel eastern approach) underneath.

In the 1980s I would visit the area several times a year, partly to see the roadworks. The worst bottleneck in my experience was usually Conwy town eastbound in the afternoon/evening on summer weekends.

As the various sections of the route were buit or improved, traffic levels increased, so what had been quite minor bottlenecks and left until last, became major problem areas in turn.
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si404
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Re: A55

Post by si404 »

timbucks wrote:Looking at a map of Anglesey I can't see any roads that would suddenly be in the wrong zone if the A5 was the number for the D2.
The A5153 would suddenly actually be in the right zone if the A5 was the DC . However it's a swap, as the A5152 would then be out of zone. Of course, both are rather frivolous. The A5154 is dubious whatever.
wrinkly wrote:Another reason may have been that "A55" was by then a well-known "brand" for a high-standard road across N. Wales; by then, plans for major improvements to the A5 on the mainland had been dropped.
the A55 is the route they want you to use to get to Holyhead, why should it have two numbers, especially when given the chance? There's still the problem at the other end, with the A494 being the more main route (or as it used to be until recently, A494-A550-A5117) to the motorway network.
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AJK1982
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Re: A55

Post by AJK1982 »

Having driven most of the A55 during a holiday to Llandudno I have to say it is a fantastic road. It may not be perfect, but in some ways those imperfections add to its character. What is does show is that piecemeal upgrading can work but only when all the pieces are done! The A55 left me pining for what the A27 could be...
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Re: A55

Post by Glenn A »

This is the most important road in North Wales and is now completely dualled. My family would confirm stories about from the old days as driving through Conwy used to be a nightmare.
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Duncan
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Re: A55

Post by Duncan »

AJK1982 wrote:Having driven most of the A55 during a holiday to Llandudno I have to say it is a fantastic road. It may not be perfect, but in some ways those imperfections add to its character. What is does show is that piecemeal upgrading can work but only when all the pieces are done! The A55 left me pining for what the A27 could be...
Join the club. I have only driven on the section from Holyhead to Llandudno Junction, but I was most impressed, especially with the section across Anglesey, which is like a motorway in all but name with the road ending up almost in the port at Holyhead, and the A470 junction at Llandudno Junction feels like a proper motorway junction. Does anyone know if the WAG plan to take out the roundabouts at Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan, so that the route is completely GSJed from Holyhead to Chester? If only the A27 and A259 could be like that!

Another thing that surprises me is that no-one other than Pavilion (now defunct of course) wanted to build a proper motorway-style service area. I would have thought there was a ready market for a service area with more than just the usual Little Chef, with toilets only for the use of restaurant customers and a petrol station.
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wrinkly
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Re: A55

Post by wrinkly »

Duncan wrote: Does anyone know if the WAG plan to take out the roundabouts at Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan, so that the route is completely GSJed from Holyhead to Chester?
There are no schemes for the two roundabouts in the current Welsh trunk road programme, but I'm sure I've seen documents on the WAG website saying they were being looked at.

A search on the site shows a reply to an FoI request. Unfortunately the documents that were attached to the reply do not seem to be on the web.

There is of course an ambitious scheme to dual the Menai crossing by building a new bridge alongside the Britannia Bridge, but I'm sure it's a long, long way off. There's also a scheme to deal with the several small central reservation gaps and other poor design features between Aber and Tair Meibion, but that was demoted in the review at the end of 2008 and may also be quite a while.

Improvements at the east end of the A55 are in limbo following the rejection of the big Aston Hill scheme.
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Re: A55

Post by timbucks »

si404 wrote:
timbucks wrote:Looking at a map of Anglesey I can't see any roads that would suddenly be in the wrong zone if the A5 was the number for the D2.
The A5153 would suddenly actually be in the right zone if the A5 was the DC . However it's a swap, as the A5152 would then be out of zone. Of course, both are rather frivolous. The A5154 is dubious whatever.
Ah, I was looking at google maps which doesn't even label them... The A5152 is in Wrexham anyway, so would be unaffected by zone boundary changes in Anglesey
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SouthWest Philip
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Re: A55

Post by SouthWest Philip »

timbucks wrote:Ah, I was looking at google maps which doesn't even label them... The A5152 is in Wrexham anyway, so would be unaffected by zone boundary changes in Anglesey
The Anglesey A5152 is a duplicate number, but given it must only be a couple of hundred yards long it was hardly worth numbering anyway.
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