Bypass to be closed every night for the next month

The busy Chirk bypass is shut for roadworks from 8pm until 6pm with traffic diverted through the Shropshire/Welsh border town.

The closure comes just weeks after the road was shut to strengthen the bridge over the River Ceiriog.

Carrying both the A5 and A483 the bypass will be out of bounds between the Gledrid and Halton roundabouts between 8pm and 6am every night except over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Heavy traffic is expected to used the road over the Bank Holiday weekend as families, taking advantage of the half term holiday, head for Wales, many for their first holiday in over a year.

Traffic Wales, which is responsible for the route, says the work is to strengthen the verge on the southbound side of the bypass.

It says while the work will mean some inconvenience now it will prevent road closures in the future in emergencies.

A spokesman said: "Traffic wll be diverted via B5070 through Chirk. The work is to strengthen the southbound verge that will permit access for Traffic Officers in the event of an incident and thereby reduce the need to close the A5 and divert all traffic through Chirk."

He said the strengthening work would be carried out under night time closures .

"The road will be closed from 8pm - 6 am seven nights a week with full carriageway closure in both directions until May 20.

"Works will take place every night over a five week period to complete the works as quickly as possible. However, works will not be undertaken over the bank holiday period, from May 27 - 31."

Although the strengthening work is for the southbound carriageway the road will be completely closed.

The Chirk bypass was built 30 years ago to divert the heavy traffic using the two trunk roads away from the town.

In February the road was shut for eight days as major structure work was carried out on the River Ceiriog Viaduct. Engineers say the large expansion joint on the Shropshire side was reaching the end of its life and had to be replaced.

The viaduct spans the 500 metres from the northern side of the Ceiriog Valley in Wales to its southern side in England.

Then the bypass was closed night and day and temporary traffic lights had to be installed on the B5070 Chirk Road bridge over the River Ceiriog. The traffic lights avoided two HGV vehicles being on the weight restricted bridge at the same time.