43-438: Mochdre may refer to: Mochdre, Conwy , north Wales Mochdre, Powys , west Wales Mochdre with Penstrowed , a community which contains the small village of Mochdre [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
86-550: A 70 mph (110 km/h) speed limit because they are actually special roads . This is because these sections were built under legislation for building motorways but they were never declared as motorways. Legally it means these two stretches of the A55 are neither part of the national UK motorway network nor trunk roads . As such, the national speed limit does not apply so 70 mph (110 km/h) signs (the maximum speed permitted on UK roads) are used instead. Unlike other sections of
129-565: A footbridge over the railway at the eastern end to accommodate the cycleway. Some sections of the rest of the route are of lower standard than that of those further east. Some traffic leaves for major holiday destinations such as Caernarfon or the Llŷn Peninsula , though much continues on to the port of Holyhead. As such part of the route is not classed as clearway and has two at grade junctions (roundabouts), Penmaenmawr (Junction 16) and Llanfairfechan (Junction 15). The Bangor bypass, in which
172-680: A grade separated junction with a single overbridge allowing access/exit for all possible directions. In November 2012, the Welsh Government published two more detailed studies looking at options to improve transport in the North East Wales and the A55 / A494 areas. Possible changes to be considered further include The A55 partly follows the alignment of the Roman road from Chester (Deva) to Caernarfon ( Segontium ), particularly from Junction 31 to 30 and Junction 13 to 12. Between Chester and Holywell
215-516: A large automotive accessories manufacturer being their base in the village. Latterly this complex is home to the Quinton Hazell Enterprise Park, incorporating mixed office and industrial accommodation. Mochdre is also the name of the electoral ward, whose boundaries are coterminous with the community. The ward elects a county councillor to sit on Conwy County Borough Council . It is currently (2022) represented by Cllr Stephen Price of
258-543: A limited access junction (westbound off/westbound on) as it is a difficult location close to the North Wales coast railway and cycle route and partly on a railway bridge. A new local road would run from the new Dwygyfylchi interchange to the existing roundabout passing around the rear of the Penguin Cafe/truckstop. The Llanfairfechan junction 15 grade separation is much easier to achieve and will be completed on site as
301-486: A link to Cambrian Coast railway and possibly onwards from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen) may impact cash available for road schemes. The Junction 16 scheme involves creating a new grade separated junction close to the Penmaenbach Tunnel with a single overbridge allowing access for all directions. This will replace the limited access junction 16A there for Dwygyfylchi. The existing junction 16 roundabout would be replaced by
344-406: A pre-prepared trench in the bed of the estuary. The 3 million tonnes of silt and mud extracted to create the trench in which the tunnel sections sat, were vacuumed to one side of the construction site, as to let them drift down river would have harmed the large mussel fishing beds downstream. The silt was deposited upstream of the bridge at Conwy which created a large new area of low-lying land which
387-521: A purpose-built bridge – over the westbound carriageway – was constructed to allow unrestricted access to cyclists and walkers. The 1930s alignment was used until a new two-lane Penmaenbach Tunnel opened in 1989 to carry westbound traffic. Eastbound traffic would now travel through the 1932 Penmaenbach Tunnel using both its original lanes. Four years later, work to build the Pen-y-clip tunnel was completed. Like at Penmaenbach it carried westbound traffic while
430-669: A senior men's side, a recreational ladies side, and an extensive juniors section. The club’s home ground is the MSA Sports Arena on Swan Road (Mochdre Sports Association) and shared with Mochdre Cricket Club. Mochdre has a place in railway history. Sited on the North Wales Coast Line from Chester to Holyhead , it was the location of experimental trackside water troughs , from which passing steam locomotives could scoop up fresh water supplies without having to stop. The troughs were supplied with water from two square ponds to
473-544: Is a relatively narrow section of dual carriageway and prone to flooding. After a pause, work restarted on the scheme (now known as the Abergwyngregyn-Tai'r Meibion scheme) in 2021 and encompassing some 2.2 km of the A55. It involves constructing a new road to the north of the dual carriageway for general use including cycleway and farm access. This allowed the closure of 8 central reservation gaps used by slow moving agricultural vehicles which caused safety concerns with
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#1733201860780516-519: Is a village and an electoral ward to the west of Colwyn Bay in Conwy County Borough , Wales. Originally part of the municipal borough of Colwyn Bay prior to local government reorganisation in April 1974, it is now a separate community whose population at the 2001 census was 1,862 increasing to 1,923 at the 2011 census. The village can be seen in its entirety from Bryn Euryn . The name of
559-522: Is notorious for poor weather conditions including fog, ice and snow in winter months. In fine weather, however there are extensive views over the River Dee estuary to the Wirral Peninsula , Liverpool and beyond. The highest part of the road is in the vicinity of Brynford at around 790 feet (240 m). The steep descent towards St Asaph is down the new Rhuallt Hill (Junctions 29 to 28), which also provides
602-600: The A487 towards Caernarfon , and the west coast of North Wales . The final section of the A55 to be constructed was the Anglesey section. This 20 mile (32 km) section from the end of the Llanfairpwll bypass to Holyhead Harbour was constructed as Private Finance Initiative scheme where the builders, a Carillion / John Laing joint venture, earn a shadow toll based on usage and lane availability. They also have to maintain
645-555: The A5 . The road improvements have been part funded with European money, under the Trans-European Networks programme, as the route is designated part of Euroroute E22 ( Holyhead – Leeds – Amsterdam – Hamburg – Malmö – Riga – Moscow – Perm – Ekaterinburg – Ishim ). The A55 begins at junction 12 of the M53 , the southern end of the motorway, near Chester . It is known as
688-603: The Welsh Labour Party . The ward also elects or co-opts up to eleven community councillors to Mochdre Community Council. A55 road The A55 , also known as the North Wales Expressway ( Welsh : Gwibffordd Gogledd Cymru ), is a major road in Wales and England , connecting Cheshire and North Wales . The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway primary route , with
731-548: The A494 between this junction at Ewloe and Queensferry were rejected by the Welsh Government on 26 March 2008 due to their scale. From Ewloe, the road is relatively flat until after Northop when it climbs up onto the flanks of Halkyn Mountain range, passing to the southwest of Holywell with major climbs between Northop and Halkyn (Junctions 33 and 32b) and Halkyn and Holywell Summit (Junctions 32 and 31). This section of road
774-467: The A55 that have National Speed Limit (NSL) signage and are accessible to all motor vehicles, motorway restrictions are enforced on these two stretches of road (therefore no pedestrians, learner drivers, etc. ) A 50 mph (80 km/h) limit remains in force through the Colwyn Bay bypass ( Old Colwyn to Mochdre ). The restriction was imposed for several reasons. First as a safety precaution because
817-462: The A55. The road briefly has a three-lane section as westbound traffic from Queensferry can leave towards Mold . In the eastbound direction another short three-lane section allows vehicles to join the A494 or exit onto the A55 to Chester. Traffic taking the A55 into England must negotiate a tight 270 degree speed-limited single lane curve to climb up and over the A55/A494 at Ewloe loops. Plans to upgrade
860-533: The Chester southerly bypass between J39 Christleton and J36a Broughton. The A55 crosses the River Dee and the border into Wales, passing close to Broughton, Flintshire , and passing north of Buckley , Penyffordd and Northop . There is a major climb between Broughton and Dobshill (Junctions 36a Broughton to 35 Dobshill) though with no crawler lane. Junction 34/33b is point at which the A494 converges and then diverges with
903-638: The United Kingdom. At 1060m, the tunnel is the longest road tunnel in Wales. The decision to construct an immersed tube tunnel bypass followed an extensive public consultation, named the Collcon Feasibility Study. This ruled out another bridge by the castle on aesthetic grounds, since it would have damaged the view of the world heritage site Conwy Castle , and the two bridges by Robert Stephenson and Thomas Telford . Another alternative bridge crossing
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#1733201860780946-560: The alignment of this road is uncertain and between St. Asaph and Abergwyngregyn, the Roman road followed an inland route, via Canovium Roman Fort at Caerhun, avoiding the difficulties of the crossing of the Conwy estuary and the cliffs at Penmaenbach and Pen-y-Clip. There are three large service areas on the A55, along with numerous other petrol stations at the side of the road. The three major services are: Bangor Services (off J11) This service area
989-401: The awkward alignment by building another tunnel parallel to the current westbound tunnel (as originally intended when the westbound tunnel was proposed) have been discussed for several years. The work in late-2007 at Penmaenbach eastbound has seen the erection of gantries to close lanes when bidirectional working is in place. New bridges over the railway tunnel entrances at each end were added and
1032-435: The cliffs by hand, this narrow, winding route hugged the contours around both steep headlands. Telford's route has now been converted into a cycleway across Penmaenbach and Penmaenan Points. Originally at the western end (Llanfairfechan) of the modern Pen-y-Clip tunnel, access was only allowed in an easterly direction because travelling the other way would mean heading the wrong way up the eastbound carriageway. However, in 2009
1075-407: The cutting of several hard rock tunnels beneath the sea cliffs. The first to be built in 1932 was the Penmaenbach Tunnel which carried motor traffic to Penmaenmawr . Two smaller tunnels through Penmaenan Point, opened 1935, carried the road on to Llanfairfechan . This new route, carrying traffic in both directions, relieved the original coach road built by Telford in the early 19th century. Cut into
1118-575: The exception of the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and several short sections where there are gaps in between the two carriageways. All junctions are grade separated apart from a roundabout east of Penmaenmawr and another nearby in Llanfairfechan . Initially, the road ran from Chester to Bangor . In 2001, it was extended across Anglesey to the ferry port of Holyhead parallel to
1161-564: The first views of the mountains of Snowdonia in the far distance. There is a crawler lane on Rhuallt Hill for eastbound traffic. The road bypasses St Asaph to the north, and runs past Bodelwyddan and Abergele to reach the North Wales coast at Pensarn (Junction 23A). From here onwards to Bangor , the route is close to the North Wales Coast railway . Two sections between (Junction 23) Llanddulas to (Junction 17) Conwy are signed as
1204-482: The full plans can be seen on the A55 microsite. In June 2021 the Welsh Government decided to review all road schemes whilst looking at public transport alternatives. In September 2021 the Welsh Government announced an expansion of their plans for the North Wales Metro that may impact this road scheme. In particular longer term plans to reopen old rail routes from Bangor to Amlwch and Bangor to West Wales (presumably
1247-418: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mochdre&oldid=1199746794 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Mochdre, Conwy Mochdre ( [ˈmoːχdrɛ] )
1290-526: The original road carried vehicles in the opposite direction. Both new routes were subject to an advisory 50 mph speed limit until these were lifted in 2007 as there had been few accidents. However traffic travelling eastbound on the 1930s cliff-hugging route still faced speed restrictions at both tunnel locations. For instance the eastbound carriageway at Penmaenbach is subject to a 30 mph (50 km/h) speed limit due to sharp curves and double white lines nominally preclude lane changing. Plans to rectify
1333-556: The road for the extended period of their shadow toll agreement. When travelling eastbound along this section there are fine views of Snowdonia. The approach to Holyhead required major work with a new section over the sea paralleling the Stanley Embankment that carries the original A5 and the North Wales Coast railway . Work started in early 2017 on the upgrading of the 1960s built substandard section of dual carriageway west of Abergwyngregyn from Tai'r Meibion towards Tan-y-lon, which
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1376-481: The road previously terminated and became the A5 regains high standards and is such through the Anglesey section, bar the Britannia Bridge , which is a single carriageway deck above the North Wales Coast railway over the Menai Strait . In 2007 the Welsh Assembly Government undertook a consultation to determine which of four options would be preferred for another crossing . This section intersects with
1419-409: The slip-roads on this stretch are unusually short due to the road's design. Part of it was built on a narrow swathe of land through the town that was once the North Wales coast railway ; Colwyn Bay railway station had to be rebuilt and the track bed realigned to complete the underpass as the road used the former railway Goods Yard which was relocated to Llandudno Junction. The former four-track railway
1462-783: The south of the railtrack and in the fields of the old Eagles farm. The first infant School in Mochdre was held in the Methodist chapel schoolroom in Chapel Street. The station master's house was on the Llangwstennin side of the railway line. It was a two-storey redbrick building and the stationmaster in the 20s and early 30s was a Mr Stretton who, when the railway station closed, went to live in Tan-yr-allt Avenue, Mochdre. Above Llangwstennin Rectory
1505-419: The theft of a herd of sacred pigs. One of the places where the stolen animals were kept overnight became known as Mochdre ("Pigtown") as a result. The village of Mochdre is noted for its parish church , which is actually the church of the parish of Llangwstennin as it allegedly sits on the site of the oldest Early Christian church in Wales. It is the home of Mochdre Sports Football Club, which comprises
1548-479: The tunnel was opened in October 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II , the tunnel initially had an advisory 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) speed limit, but this was dropped in 2007 as accidents were rare in the tunnels. Leaving Conwy in a westerly direction, the construction of this section has involved major civil engineering works because it crosses two major headlands : Penmaenbach Point and Penmaenan Point. Work has involved
1591-526: The village comes from Welsh language words meaning pig ( moch ) and town ( tref ). The origin of the name is explained in one of the mythological Welsh tales known as the Four Branches of the Mabinogi , which were first written down in the early Middle Ages , but which actually go much further back into the history of oral Welsh storytelling. An incident in one of these tales, Math fab Mathonwy , concerns
1634-566: The volume and speed of traffic on the dual carriageway. The work was well underway in September 2021 and due to open fully in 2022. Plans are also in their final stages to grade separate the two roundabouts at Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan planned to be completed by 2022. A Public Inquiry was due to be held on 21/9/21 in Llandudno Junction concerning issues over the side roads. The two roundabout improvements will now be treated separately and
1677-733: The world, but Mochdre was the first place they were ever used , around October 1860. Ironically the exact spot is now a stretch of the A55 dual carriageway , the railway line having been realigned slightly to the west when this section of the road was built in the mid-1980s. Here too was Mochdre & Pabo railway station , closed originally in January 1917 as a World War I economy measure, reopened in May 1919, and finally closed for good in January 1931. The area has been established an industrial area with much industrial and wholesale retail activity, notably Quinton Hazell,
1720-449: Was a shale quarry. The shale was crushed at the quarry and conveyed by a covered belt conveyor down to a siding on the main railway line where it was stored in silos to be taken to Ellesmere Port for use in cement manufacture. When the only road through Mochdre was along the old highway, Thornton steam lorries carrying ruby bricks used to stop on the bridge over the river and replenish their water tanks. These devices became commonplace around
1763-496: Was proposed at Deganwy , but this too was ruled out for aesthetic reasons. An inland alternative with heavy grades which would have passed over Bwlch y Ddeufaen pass at 430 metres (1,410 ft), following the old Roman road, was also worked up but rejected for cost and utility reasons as it would have required a very long crawler lane. The tunnel was constructed by a Costain / Tarmac Construction joint venture, as pre-formed concrete sections, and then floated into position over
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1806-513: Was reduced to two more northerly tracks to make space for the road. Secondly, the reduced speed limit was intended to reduce road noise for residents. However, since the completion of the Colwyn Bay bypass, the lower speed limit has been an unpopular decision with drivers. The crossing of the estuary of the River Conwy is by means of an immersed tube tunnel , the first of its kind constructed in
1849-577: Was subsequently given to the RSPB for a wildlife preserve . The casting basin for the tunnel sections was later converted into a new marina in the lower estuary. Because of the valuable fishery in the river and also because of the history of heavy metal mining in the catchment of the river, extensive ecological assessments were made both prior to the construction of the tunnel and subsequently. These studies finally concluded that no significant environmental damage had been caused. After five years of construction,
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