By Mari Jones, Local Reporter
BUSINESS owners in Llanfairfechan are facing very dark times because of roadworks that have totally blocked the main artery into the village.
The Welsh Assembly is splashing out £1.9 million to resurface the road from Llanfairfechan and Abergwyngregyn, although the condition of the road looks perfectly fine to most people.
There was no consultation with local residents or business owners and most had no idea 13 weeks of hell was about to ensue until they saw the miles of cones being set up.
The result has been disastrous. Not only are people facing horrendous delays on the A55, but business owners in Llanfairfechan are facing ruin. Many of their takings are down 50% and in some cases even 100%. Most were suffering anyway this year because higher interest rates mean people are being more careful with their money.
John Williams, the village butcher, told me he has never seen Llanfairfechan so quiet; Cllr Bill Roberts said it has become a ghost town.
As a result of these concerns the Welsh Assembly has asked the contractor to have Junction 15, which is the main road into the village, reopened as soon as possible. This is good news but they’ve already said it’s going to take another three weeks to enable them to do this, which means the village will have already suffered five weeks of lost takings.
Where are the signs on the A55 that say "Businesses open as usual"? Shouldn’t there have been some public consultation before the project went ahead? Couldn’t the Wales Trunk Road Agency, who have planned the works, used a bit more common sense and not shut down the main junction into the village immediately?
Llanfairfechan is a rare find these days, as it’s a very pretty place which is lucky to have a number of small, independently run shops. These businesses, which are now haemorrhaging money through no fault of their own, will not receive a single penny of compensation because the Welsh Assembly is simply carrying out its statutory duties to maintain the highway.
Shouldn’t it be a statutory duty to protect people’s livelihoods too?
See the full story on page 15 of this week's Weekly News.
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Barry Bronze wrote...
I live in Llanfairfechan and some times it can take me up to an hour to travel home from Llandudno in the ridiculous contraflow system which begins too early, there is no reason for this work to be carried out apart from the fact a highways budget needs to be used up! And as for the 40mph speed limit, you are lucky if you can reach 20pmh! Why not open the bus lane at the entrance to the village and let us in that way, Everyone's had enough of it and business is suffering.
Posted by: Barry Bronze | November 2, 2007 2:19 PM