Repair delays expected for A55 sea wall damaged in fatal crash
Road engineers are racing to fix a sea-facing wall breached by a horrific car smash on the A55[1]. A person died in the accident near Penmaenbach tunnel[2] early on Saturday morning (October 30).
The crash brought chaos to Conwy’s[3] roads with long tailbacks on the A55[4] and diversion routes. One lane was reopened on the affected section on Saturday afternoon but congestion is expected to continue until the second lane is reopened.
This morning, Traffic Wales warned off long queues towards Penmaenbach headland and shared a photo of vehicles queuing up from beyond Puffin roundabout at Dwygyfylchi[5]. A broken-down vehicle brought further disruption and by mid-afternoon, the AA was cautioning eastbound drivers of “severe delays” of 20-25 minutes.
Road sensors showed queuing and slow-moving traffic almost to Llanfairfechan[8]. Pictures from the crash site on Saturday show a white Hyundai car embedded in the wall, its bonnet partially suspended in mid-air.
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The vehicle belonged to Bangor[10]-based taxi firm the Premier Group, which said the accident had “sent shockwaves” through the company. It is helping North Wales Police with the investigation[11].
Physical repairs have yet to start as Traffic Wales undertakes “assessment works”. Only once these are completed will the Welsh Government[12] body have a clearer idea of the repair timeline.
Eastbound A55 traffic backing up past Penmaenmawr on Sunday afternoon (Image: David Powell/North Wales Live)
Traffic Wales expects the continued lane closure to cause “severe” disruption and is aiming for a "swift resolution". For now, a completion date of Tuesday, October 31 has been pencilled in.
However poor weather[13] and other factors could compromise the works schedule and the dual-carriageway may not reopen until early November. Traffic Wales has pledged to issue public updates once it has a clearer idea of the extent of repairs needed.
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References
- ^ A55 (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ died in the accident near Penmaenbach tunnel (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Conwy’s (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ the A55 (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Dwygyfylchi (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ 'Big storm' heading for Wales this week a 'cause for concern' (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Wales' real-life Indiana Jones filmed exploring ancient mine lost for 200 years (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Llanfairfechan (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Bangor (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ helping North Wales Police with the investigation (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Welsh Government (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ weather (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter (www.dailypost.co.uk)