The 13 km dual carriageway would plough through the Leadbrook ancient woodland, including very rare wet woodland habitat. Ancient woodlands are those which have remained uncleared for centuries, classified by the Welsh Government as an “irreplaceable habitat”. Wildflower meadows and centuries-old hedgerows would also be destroyed, as well as the homes of rare species, such as otters, badgers, barn owls and bats.

Incredibly, it has emerged that a consortium of six North Wales local authorities who have put the Red Route back into their draft North Wales Regional Transport Plan would be expected to pay for the Red Route, even though the £507m project impacts only one of the six local authorities.

The estimated cost has already spiralled out of control. The last Government budget update in 2019 estimated the cost of the Red Route as £300m. The cost, if the Red Route was to proceed now, would be a staggering £507m, an increase of £207m or 70%! Even these astronomical sums are probably an underestimate because, for example, they don’t include the huge traffic management cost of keeping the existing road open to traffic over the very disruptive 3-year construction programme. It is estimated that this 13 km dual carriageway could cost every single household in North Wales approximately £1,770!

The Red Route would need the estimated equivalent of 33% of the entire combined annual budget of the North Wales Regional Transport Plan consortium of local authorities consisting of Ynys Môn, Gwynedd, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire and Wrexham County Borough, to subsidise the construction of this single project in Flintshire!

A combination of enhanced public transport and support for active travel, coupled with 'online' improvements to the existing highway network, and SMART solutions (for example, remote real time signage and traffic advice) would very markedly reduce any congestion in the area. Demographic changes in North Wales, the dramatic rise in working from home, and the recent large falls in car-borne tourism in North Wales will further reduce the need for the Red Route dual carriageway. 

Also, this proposal for a review runs counter to the remit of the Regional Transport plan which is supposed to focus on making the best use of existing transport infrastructure, improving access to public transport, encouraging people to walk, cycle or wheel more often, and be consistent with Llwybr Newydd, the Wales Transport Strategy (which it is not). 

Yes: Estimates of the extra carbon emissions from the new dual carriageway which would result from its construction, maintenance and increased traffic volumes it would attract would be approximately 263,000 tonnes of carbon over its life. You would have to fly between London and New York over 300,000 times to emit this quantity of carbon into the atmosphere - that’s nearly half of all journeys made in a year between London and New York - to equal the impact of this proposed 13km of dual carriageway.