This afternoon saw the opportunity for a charity walk along the completed Ffordd Gyswllt Ogleddol Rhuthun/Ruthin Northern Link Road before it shortly opens to traffic.One couple walking the road this afternoon were heard to comment “Oh, it’s nice and wide”. Well, it’s a road. In fact, it’s to a standard width. But what else could anyone say about it? Roads in themselves tend to be pretty unremarkable. It’s where they lead to that counts. This one heads to Tesco.
Without it – and the housing and employment potential the road is designed to unlock – it’s doubtful whether Tesco would’ve considered a store in Rhuthun/Ruthin. The housing will be the controversial Glasdir development, on an area prone to flooding and now at the mouth of the Llanfwrog flood prevention scheme. It’s said that Glasdir will change the face of Rhuthun/Ruthin but they said that about Erw Goch in the 1960s and Parc Brynhyfryd in the 1980s.Present on the walk was the Mayor and such luminaries as AC/AMs Alun Pugh and Brynle Williams.
The link road travels across country from the farmers’ market to the council tip, where it joins the existing Lon Parcwr, a few hundred yards short of Tesco's. Traders along Lon Parcwr have mixed feeling about the road. It may bring in trade but it certainly will increase traffic volumes along what is currently a cul-de-sac. Vehicles turning right from Tesco and heading towards Dinbych/Denbigh may cause traffic to stack onto the so-called Briec roundabout, already experiencing some stress at busy periods, not helped by Tesco.