Can I thank Mark Isherwood for his comments and for his questions? I think many Members around the Chamber will welcome today’s announcement. Many Members have been consistent in calling for investment in north Wales to alleviate the congestion, particularly along this part of what is a key economic artery. I’ll deal with each question in turn, beginning with the last question that Mark Isherwood asked concerning Deeside Parkway.

I think this offers an enormous opportunity to break down barriers that too many young people—indeed, people of any age—face when trying to access job opportunities. The Member referred to the 20 per cent statistic in relation to those who are unable to undertake job interviews because they cannot access affordable or reliable public transport. That figure covers the whole of the Mersey-Dee area, and is part of the justification for viewing this initiative as a cross-border project to ensure that people in Wales can access job interview opportunities not just within north Wales but also across the border. And it will be essential that Deeside Parkway is located on the industrial park. The initial design and plans for the parkway—the cycle routes, the bus lanes—have been designed in such a way to enable people to shift from one mode to another and to travel seamlessly within the industrial park.

In terms of the steering group, the Member is right, we do not wish to have a multitude of organisations leading this work. The taskforce that was set up to look at what rail enhancements are required for the region has produced an outstanding prospectus, Growth Track 360. The steering group will take members from that taskforce and it will also look at additional membership from local authorities, because their investment in the north Wales metro will also be crucial indeed. It’s entirely possible that the growth deal could contribute to widening the scope and the scale of the metro in the years to come.

In terms of the design of the metro, it is intended to couple together communities large and small with primary places of employment. We’ve identified those initial hubs where work will take place in the first stages as a priority, simply because of the volume of people that are employed at those destinations and the prospects for jobs growth.

We’ve also coupled with the metro vision strategic economic development projects, and the Member is aware of the advanced manufacturing research institute that is being taken forward at speed and that will see one base at Broughton and another in the Deeside industrial park. So, we are coupling together employment opportunities with transport investment in the future.

I’m just going to touch on the public debate that took place regarding the preferred option. I do recognise that any proposal for a new road and for road enhancements can be controversial, but it was recognised by more than 80 per cent of those who responded to the consultation, or who attended the exhibitions, that local public transport, local public roads and trunk roads are vital to accessing good work opportunities and for social purposes. More than 80 per cent rated investment in transport as important or very important.

In terms of the preference for one route over another, the support for the red route stood at 74 per cent, for doing nothing at 5 per cent, and the remainder for the blue route. In terms of those affected—and clearly, had we progressed with the blue route there would have been incredible disturbance for many, many people living in the area affected, as well as a major impact of the competitiveness of the region, as upgrades would need to be taking place over a substantial period of time. As we move towards designing the specific route, we will be engaging with stakeholders and any compensation that needs to be made in line with existing arrangements will be discussed with landowners and property owners in the established manner. I do recognise that there is need as well for good and proper signage at the start of the current red route plan. Coming off the M56, or indeed travelling towards the M56, I think it would be hugely beneficial to have smart signage that is able to steer traffic away from accident black spots when they occur, and to ensure that travel through to north Wales and along the north Wales coast is as seamless and as smooth as possible. That signage, and the request for a crawler lane as the red route rises up towards Northop and Northop Hall, will be considered during the design stage. Likewise, I mentioned in my statement a junction strategy that will examine the safety and compliance at current junctions. It’s been found—. I know that the Member is well aware of many of the junctions on the A494/A55 interchange—you’ll be aware that some of the junctions are poorly aligned with the lanes, some of the slip roads are too short, some of the junctions attract a huge number of accidents and must be dealt with. Indeed, there were two tragic deaths in just the last month on the A494 at Aston Hill. So, the junctions will be dealt with via a strategy of improving safety, journey times and capacity.

Mark Isherwood raised the question of the A494 Dee bridge, and the need to ensure that this bridge receives the appropriate investment to upgrade it to a safe level and to make sure that traffic can flow smoothly where there is currently a pretty severe bottleneck, especially at peak hours. That work will take place whilst, in parallel, it will not be dependent on us pursuing the red route. That work must take place regardless of the Deeside corridor project. So, that investment will take place in parallel, but it’s not contingent on the delivery within a certain time frame for the red route, although we would wish to deliver both as soon as possible.

Finally, the Member has asked about the capacity on the existing A494 and A55, suggesting that at the Ewloe interchange there is work that’s required, even though we’re going to progress a red route. I would agree with the Member; that will form part of the strategic review of junctions. And along the A494 on Aston Hill, it’s a staggering fact that as many as 70,000 vehicles currently use that particular stretch every day—70,000 people or more using a road that was not designed for the twenty-first century, and that figure equates to several sections of the M4, and yet the A494 is only two lanes. So, it’s my belief that this work is long overdue. I also believe it will be supported by the vast majority of the people in the region, and that it will lead to the region becoming far more competitive.