Menai Bridge closes for essential maintenance work after engineers raise safety concerns

The Menai Bridge will close for essential maintenance work from today (Friday 21 October) following safety recommendations from structural engineers .

Engineers have recommended the bridge should close to all traffic, including pedestrians and cyclists to allow the work to take place.

The announcement was made following recent testing of the bridges existing hangers.

As part of UK Highways ongoing maintenance of the Menai Bridge, it was identified that further testing would need to be carried out alongside the replacement of some of the hangers.

Those investigations revealed serious risks have been identified and temporary hanger strengthening works may be required to ensure the safety and integrity of the bridge.

This programme could take between 14-16 weeks, with the bridge expected to reopen in early 2023.

Britannia Bridge.

In the meantime, traffic will be diverted to the Britannia Bridge.

The Welsh Government is currently developing plans to increase resilience on the Britannia Bridge to reduce the risk of both bridges being closed in exceptional circumstances.

In the last five years, the bridge has been closed to high-sided vehicles on average seven times a year.

A spokesperson for UK Highways A55 said:  “We have received a recommendation from structural engineers to close the bridge for safety reasons.

“We have passed on this recommendation to the Welsh Government and are working closely with them to ensure the safety and integrity of the Menai Bridge is maintained.

“While this issue will cause disruption, we must act in the interest of public safety. We are currently peer reviewing the findings that led to the recommendation of closure and assessing all available options to reopen the bridge as soon as possible so people can get back to using the bridge regularly.”

Deputy Minister for Climate Change with responsibility for transport, Lee Waters added: “This urgent work is being carried out for public safety, unfortunately it is unavoidable, but we are fully aware of the implication this will have for people in the local area.

“We are working closely with UK Highways  to ensure this work is carried out safely and as quickly as possible with minimal disruption to the local community.”