What is the best approach to managing the improvement of one of the most dramatic and beautiful roads in Wales when it requires working in what are described as an environmental minefield? To the team behind the works on the A470 Maes yr Helmau to Cross Foxes, Dolgellau the answer was good planning, engagement and communication – backed up by a solid commitment to collaborative behaviours.
That was the message last Thursday morning when the CEW’s North Wales Best Practice Club, ICE Cymru and CIHT held a best practice event at Gwynedd County Council’s Dolgellau offices with the Welsh Government’s Highways team, YGC, Alun Griffiths Contractors, Natural Resources Wales and Snowdonia National Park Authority.
Over 40 individuals heard how an integrated team approach combined with extensive stakeholder engagement helped to deliver major improvements to the A470 trunk road, the main highway linking north and south Wales, through some of the most stunning and environmentally valuable areas of, not just Wales and the UK but, arguably, Europe and the wider world.
The site surrounding the highway was constrained by a number of environmentally designated sites: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and ancient Meirionnydd Oakwoods. A number of protected species, including bats, also occupied the site. However, improving the route was of great economic and social importance to Wales and, in particular, this relatively economically disadvantaged part of Wales. Balancing these complex elements presented huge challenges to the team.
The event was a great way to learn and to better understand the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them, and how the lessons can be applied to other similar schemes. Of particular interest is the way in which the team was established to deliver this project, the departures to highway standards required to minimise impacts on the site, the way the team dealt with statutory bodies and procedures and how they engaged with a broad range of stakeholders over a lengthy development period.
Ed Evans, CEWs’ Director Exemplar Programme, stated :“Many of the practices developed at this environmentally challenging site are of international importance and need to be shared, at the very least, across Wales and the UK. The positive comments from officers at Natural Resources Wales and Snowdonia National Park Authority reinforce the importance of collaborative working and I hope that we can work with the Welsh Government’s Highways officers to share the lessons learnt on a much broader stage”.
