Timetable for repairs to road damaged by flooding 18 months ago revealed

Liam Randall, local democracy reporter

Work to repair a road in Wrexham which was severely damaged by a landslide around 18 months ago is finally set to begin in the autumn.

The B5605 in Newbridge has been closed since January 2021, when heavy downpours during Storm Christoph caused part of it to collapse down an embankment.

It has led to a long period of frustration for residents living nearby, who have been forced to take lengthy diversions to get to work or take their children to school.

The Welsh Government announced in May it would be providing £2.8m in funding to Wrexham Council to cover the cost of the repairs.

The local authority has now provided an update on when the work is due to get underway and revealed it could take almost a year to complete.

Inconvenience

The information was given after the ongoing inconvenience faced by residents was highlighted by Labour group leader Dana Davies at an executive board meeting held yesterday (Tuesday, July 12).

Speaking during a discussion on the council’s capital programme, the Ruabon councillor said: “I’m just wondering because I can’t see it anywhere in there, where it’s got the capital planned programme works for the Newbridge Road.

“It’s getting desperate now because there’s people that are travelling all around the world to get to Pentre and Fron.

“With rising fuel costs and everything else, they really want to know when it’s going to be fixed by.”

The road serves as a busy route for local people and also acts as a diversion from the A483 bypass.

Due to the severity of the damage caused last year, a series of surveys were carried out by the council to establish the extent of the repairs needed.

In response to the Labour leader’s query, Cllr Hugh Jones, lead member for environment, said: “In May this year we got confirmation from Welsh Government on funding.

“Currently discussions are taking place with NRW (Natural Resource Wales) with regards to various technical aspects of it.

“The plan is, and the hope is, that work will start in the autumn of this year, and it will take 50 weeks in order to complete the work.”