THE Welsh Government has defended its decision to connect a new £30m bridge to a road which “frequently floods”.

On Friday, 21 September, there was traffic chaos after sustained rainfall caused the Dyfi Bridge to close due to flooding.

Standing water on the region’s other roads, most notably the A489, caused widespread disruption and tailbacks as vehicles struggled to deal with the wet conditions.

There are plans in place to build a new bridge to the north of Machynlleth to help ease commuters woes and bypass the 18th Century Dyfi Bridge which serves as a pinchpoint on the road network between north and south Wales.

However the new bridge, which is estimated to cost approximately £30m, will link to the existing road network and pass below the Cambrian Line Railway Bridge - a tract of road which is heavily liable to flood, as it did on Friday.

There have been concerns raised locally by Meirionnydd councillors that the new bridge will be a “waste of time” and that “it’s no use utilising a road that regularly floods”.

The Welsh Government has conceded that the road is also often closed “due to frequent flooding causing traffic to take a diversion of up to 30 miles”.

Yet plans for the bridge, which is supposed to open in Summer 2021, remain unchanged.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “It is acknowledged that flooding below the Cambrian Line Railway Bridge frequently interrupts the operation of the A487.

“The proposed scheme therefore includes works to resolve the issue of flooding at this low point by addressing the flood risk.

“The provision of both a flood bund (embankment) and an emergency pump station would ensure that the section of the of A487 trunk road under the Cambrian Line Railway Bridge remains open to traffic.”

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