Bontnewydd Bypass

BONTNEWYDD BYPASS

Many of you will know that Caernarfon & Dwyfor Ramblers have been very active in opposing ill thought out plans for the Goat roundabout in Llanwnda, where the bypass will impact on Lon Eifion.

We have also been pressing for safeguards where the new road will affect public footpaths, in particular those from Caeathro to Caernarfon. Bryn Williams, the Site Agent/PR officer for the scheme, has now confirmed ‘That the project designers are looking at possibilities on how to retain the public footpath once the bypass is built. The aim is to avoid any need to walk along the A4085 where there is currently no footpath’.

So, just as with the roundabout, we will have to wait and see. The campaign that started in the summer with letters in the press moved on to the involvement of Sustrans and the CTC. Messages from C&D Ramblers and Ramblers Cymru went to Gwynedd Council, local Community Councils, the Welsh Government (particularly Edwina Hart), further letters and articles in the press, and local politicians. Those who do not buy local papers, or were perhaps away in the autumn, may not have seen the Herald’s full page spread and large photo of MP Hywel Williams and AM Alun Ffred Jones standing at the Goat roundabout, where they called for the provision of safe crossings for pedestrians and cyclists when the bypass is built.

It is hard to imagine that the developers can now do anything other than follow the lead of the designers of the Llanllyfni bypass, who solved the Lon Eifion problem by installing a bridge across the road. It’s ironic to think that this bridge is just a short distance from where the two bypasses will join, at the Goat roundabout.

Dave