THE Welsh Government has been criticised for not taking the need for investment in the A55 seriously.

Darren Millar, AM for Clwyd West, has called for proper upgrade on what he described as the main artery into North Wales.

He said he has made repeated calls in the Senedd for investment in the A55, and has highlighted the problems lack of investment is causing along the line of the road.

He particularly referred to the recent road works near Llanddulas which caused considerable congestion and lead to traffic using unsuitable local roads.

In a Senedd question to Ken Skates, the Minister for Economy and Transport, Mr Millar said: “One area of investment that you are responsible for but haven't taken very seriously is the need for investment in the A55 trunk road in North Wales.

“You will be aware of the significant disruption that often takes place on the A55, particularly when there is road maintenance taking place or, indeed, when there are accidents on that road because of the lack of a hard shoulder along significant parts of it.

“The failure to address the congestion on the A55 is having a devastating impact on visitor experience, it's causing ambulances not to be able to get to patients on time or to get them to hospitals when they need to, and it's causing untold damage to the economy in terms of people not being able to get to or from places of education or employment.

“The recent roadworks in Llanddulas caused tailbacks that amounted to over an hour of extra travel time through the A55 and caused untold havoc on roads, including the B5381, the B5383, and the A547, all of which are local roads that cost a significant amount for local councils to repair once the heavy volume of traffic from the A55, for which they're not designed, has to travel along them in order to avoid the chaos that your Government causes because of the lack of investment.

He added: “The people of North Wales are sick of hearing about investment in road infrastructure in South Wales, it’s about time that the road infrastructure in North Wales was given a fair share of investment.”