The Red Route in Flintshire

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 9 December 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 2:10, 9 December 2020

Can I thank Jack Sargeant for his question and just add to the points that I was making in regard to Mandy Jones's question that the primary concern at the moment regarding the environmental impact concerns the impact that it could have on Leadbrook wood? Now, it would amount to less than 5 per cent of spatial impact, but, of course, we're working with stakeholder groups. As much as we can we're trying to engage with them to look at ways of further mitigating against the impact and, indeed, going beyond that and compensating with an increase in the amount of forest that exists in that particular area of Wales.

And with regard to the economy, I'm sure Jack Sargeant will be aware of the strong support for the scheme from the Deeside business professionals and from the north Wales business council and the North Wales Economic Ambition Board. The benefit-cost ratio of this is, I believe, in excess of two, which would make it be considered a high-value investment.

But, of course, this is not just about ensuring that we have a more resilient pathway into north Wales—this is, primarily, about delivering a metro for north-east Wales, and, in order to do so, we need to reduce the number of traffic on the existing corridor, the A55/A494. It's projected that this scheme will reduce traffic on that particular corridor by between 25 per cent and 35 per cent, enabling us to operate dedicated bus corridors, bus routes, bus rapid transport. It would also enable us to end the rat run, which I'm sure Jack Sargeant is very well aware of, in the Deeside area, and it would enable us to use the space that could be acquired to implement more active travel routes.