A THIRD crossing over the Menai Strait has again been ruled out by the First Minister, Mark Drakeford.

Mr Drakeford said the alternatives for connectivity improvements will be considered, but that a third crossing will not happen due to the loss of Anglesey’s Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station.

Welsh Government scrapped plans for a new bridge linking Anglesey and Gwynedd last month as part of its Roads Review.

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Mr Drakeford said in the Senedd yesterday (March 14): “I remember everything that we discussed at that time with the company responsible for the Wylfa B project – whether it was possible to draw funding in for a third crossing, because there would be far more traffic flowing to Anglesey and off Anglesey.

“I also recall the discussions with the National Grid.

“The original suggestion from the National Grid was to create a tunnel under the strait. We were discussing whether it was possible to use that funding to help with the cost of a bridge.

“So, the context has fundamentally changed, because everything that was on the table with Wylfa B isn’t there now.”

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The MS for Ynys Môn, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said that the Menai Suspension Bridge was “one storm, one accident, one event away from being totally isolated” after it closed between late October and early February.

Mr ap Iorwerth has made two proposals to Lord Burns’ transport commission – a dual-carriageway on the A55 Britannia Bridge, and a walkway or cycle route on the bridge’s lower deck.

He said: “We’re not talking about a special case across the Menai; we just want it to be like the rest of the A55.

“I want the First Minister to look again at the original needs for the crossing, and how to deliver them: the need to improve safety, opportunities for active travel, the economic boost that comes from having a more resilient crossing for delivering on the free port, for example.”

The First Minister said Cardiff would be “open to whatever Lord Burns recommends”.

But, he added, “we want to see options for a crossing of the Menai in a way that helps us in our effort to create a shift in the way in which people currently travel”.

An initial report by the transport commission, published in January, highlighted the need to reduce car travel and parking spaces, and increase public transport, in North Wales.

A final report is expected in the summer.