No emergency plan for Welsh island if both bridges close simultaneously

Dale Spridgeon, local democracy reporter

The lack of contingency plans for Anglesey, should both bridges linking the island to the mainland close at the same time, has come under scrutiny.

Plans for the individual closure of the Britannia or Menai Suspension bridges in Anglesey were made 12 years ago, but there was “no plan” should both close simultaneously, a council committee found.

Work is now “progressing” to develop an updated plan, with the island’s vulnerability under concern.

Singular closure

The Menai bridge closed for four months back in October 2022, after serious safety concerns were identified during a technical analysis.

According to the emergency planning report for 2023/24: “There were contingency plans for the bridges closing on a singular basis – but the only plan for both closing simultaneously was dated 2011.”

The council’s chief executive, Dylan Williams, had written to the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), asking for a focus on the bridges issue and called for support from multiple agencies.

Key concerns

Concerns had been raised including getting “blue lights over the bridge” and dealing with HGV “stacking” – as seen during the Holyhead Port closure.

The emergency planning officer for the county council, Jon Zalot, said: “I have been dealing with the subject for the past six months.”

“Because the plan was over 10 years old there was a lot of updating to do.”

Mr Zalot revealed that: “If both bridges were to close for just one or two hours or 24 hours or even onger, a lot of problems will arise.”

He said: “One of the biggest things is how to get the blue lights over, but that depends on what happens and what has caused the bridges to close.”

Work progressing

CEO Dylan Williams said: “In terms of planning for an emergency our response is more stable than it was a year ago.”

“When the Port in Holyhead was closed due to Storm Darragh, within two or three days, there were digital signs put in Flintshire, warning lorries not to come to Holyhead.”

“We would never have seen that response a year ago. We have come a long way, there is still a long way to go.”
The scrutiny committee report concluded that “work is progressing and it is expected a plan will be in place before the end of the year.”