THE road, rail and port investment wish-list needed to boost North Wales and the border counties has been submitted to the 海角视频 Government’s Union Connectivity Review.
The review led by Sir Peter Hendy is looking at how infrastructure investment can help ‘level-up’ the 海角视频.
Local authority leaders from North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester in the Growth Track 360 partnership have made a joint submission to press for the projects they believe can boost the regions.
This is where they believe the focus should be for investment:
■ The East – West North Wales Coastal Corridor embracing the North Wales Coast Mainline railway and the A55 and A494 roads which connect to the 海角视频’s national networks at Chester. This includes Electrification of the North Wales Coast Main Line from Holyhead to Chester and then onwards to Crewe and Warrington. They want this to happen by 2030.
They also want improvements in the resilience and capacity of the A55.
■ The North-South Corridor of the A483/A5 roads from Chester to Shrewsbury and the English Midlands and its associated railway. They want Improvements to A483 Junctions at Wrexham (A5156 for the A534 and WrexhamIndustrial Estate, A541 for Mold and the A525 for Ruthin) which will open up development land and ease congestion for traffic moving to and from the Midlands on the corridor.
■ Local road and rail networks to enable a North Wales Metro based on rail hubs connected to employment and residential areas by integrated bus services and active travel corridors.
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Growth Track 360 also supports the delivery of 海角视频 strategic rail schemes like HS2 at a Crewe Hub Station with a Crewe North Connection and Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 at a Warrington Bank Quay interchange.
They also want investment in Chester station.
In addition, the submission argues for improved ferry links between both Holyhead and Birkenhead with Northern Ireland to bring about greater connectivity faster than a fixed link from Scotland. They also say a rail freight terminal is needed at Holyhead to enable the switching of freight to and from Ireland from road to rail in the future.
Growth Track 360 Chair – Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester – and Vice Chair – Councillor Ian Roberts, Leader of Flintshire – in November urged the Chancellor to “seize the opportunity to strengthen the union, generate inclusive economic growth, promote sustainable transport and reduce carbon emissions” through investments in cross-border rail modernisation schemes in North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire.
Cllr Roberts said: “We are urging Sir Peter Hendy to recommend new and faster methods for delivering transport investment in our region which spans two of the four nations of the 海角视频 and whose transport infrastructure has fallen between too many separate processes.”
The Mersey Dee North Wales All-Party Parliamentary Group has also put in its submission to the review.
Dr James Davies MP, Chair, Mersey Dee North Wales All-Party Parliamentary Group, said: “There have long been calls for electrification of the Crewe-Holyhead railway for economic purposes, but the benefit:cost ratio for this has proven insufficient to meet HM Treasury ‘Green Book’ demands.
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“We would argue that moderate investment in the region’s line speeds and bottlenecks in years gone by would have driven up passenger use and demonstrated the potential to be realised from electrification, and that this remains the case.
"The decarbonisation agenda is likely to require electrification of the line in due course, but relying on this alone may mean a further wait of 20 years.
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"We would urge you to recommend that the government bring electrification forward to 2030,to allow classic-compatible HS2 trains to run through to Holyhead.”
They also call for an improvement to local routes with quicker and more frequent services.
He added: “With regard to road connections, we would point to the A55, which is a crucial piece of national infrastructure relevant to your review. It would benefit from additional capacity and linkages, particularly along its eastern stretches.”
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