A483 junction upgrade decision this month – “We are waiting on the review of the review”

Wrexham will know this month if A483 junctions will get improvement works, and if so, what form they will take.

Yesterday we asked Cllr David A Bithell about progress on the junction improvements on the bypass, which is awaiting a decision from Welsh Government. We asked if there was any update, any indications or even a precise time when a decision would be known.

As we have long documented the works have been on the cards for several years, delayed by the pandemic, with Ken Skates MS announcing back in 2018 funding for congestion improvements. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

More recently, last year a long option assessment saw ‘preferred routes’ published after consultations took place – with Welsh Government saying that the plans for the bypass “would improve access into Wrexham, improve journey times and provide new active travel links for local residents. The proposals being presented can be constructed and delivered with minimal impact on existing traffic.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cllr Bithell said, “We’ve been told that the announcement will be by the end of February”

“I wrote to Lee Walters last week. I spoke to Lesley Griffiths in a meeting last Friday. Cllr Mark Pritchard was at a meeting where it was raised – Lord Burns was at the meeting.

“The reality is, we’re waiting on a decision from a review of the review.”

“It is a bit like the phosphates issue really, Wrexham is open for business and we need these decisions. For one, it supports our local development plan and secondly, to go back to phosphates we have got building companies making contact with us now, trying to put political pressure on us as a local authority, because they want to build new houses in Wrexham – and we can’t, because of all sorts of issues, either it’s the A483 junctions or it’s the phosphates issue.

“These decisions are not in our hands, and we’ve done everything in our power to put as much pressure on as we can.”

Council Leader Mark Pritchard echoed the comments, adding “I’m extremely disappointed that we have not had the announcement. But, we’ve been given reassurances that the announcement will be made by the end of February.

“It’s important that we have the support of the Welsh Government for these infrastructure improvements.

“It’s not a new road. It’s an improvement process on our major artery routes across Wrexham, and we were given a commitment by the Welsh Government that we would be supported on this”.

Welsh Government confirmed that they hope to have an announcement on the junctions in February, however no precise date is public.