Plaid Cymru Assembly Member for Ynys Môn Rhun ap Iorwerth has urged Welsh Government to make sure that momentum isn’t lost with regards to work on duelling the Britannia Bridge following the pausing of the Wylfa Newydd project.
Mr ap Iorwerth has led the campaign for improving the crossings over the Menai Strait since taking office as Ynys Môn’s AM and in the Assembly Chamber this week he asked First Minister Mark Drakeford to ensure the project continued and said that he feels there is a very strong case to seek joint investment from National Grid to invest towards the cost of the bridge development.
The Ynys Môn AM said:
“One cost-effective way of improving road networks is to find joint investment. There has been some talk about getting the National Grid to contribute to the cost of a new Menai crossing in order to carry cables as part of the Wylfa Newydd development—a bridge that would allow safe cycling to work to Parc Menai, for example, for the very first time.
“Now that the Wylfa Newydd proposal has been paused, I asked the First Minister if he agrees with me that it’s important not to lose momentum with the new bridge proposal, and if he agrees that there is a very strong case to continue to seek joint investment from the grid by encouraging them to put the current cabling over the Menai on that new bridge.
“This would from part of a project worth billions of pounds that is happening in other parts of the UK to remove pylons and underground cables in areas of outstanding natural beauty. It would also be a way of removing the pylons that currently run through the middle of the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.”