North Wales seafront road has reopened and is now 1.5 metres higher than it was

A promenade road has reopened after three years. Multi-million pound developments have been taking place to protect and enhance the Bay of Colwyn seafront.

Back in 2021 new works got underway in Old Colwyn - closing the promenade road between Splash Point (Old Colwyn Arches) and Rotary Way. The investment was needed to protect homes, the A55 and North Wales main line. Welsh Government stumped up the money to fund the £18m scheme.

At the other end at Rhos-on-Sea work started in 2022 on a £14m project to revamp the prom and bring in sand for a golden new beach.

The stretch at the Rhos end reopened last month. Now the Old Colwyn part of the promenade has also opened to traffic.

The work included building a 720m long rock barricade in front of the existing seawall using 160,000 tonnes of rock, raising the promenade and road by 1.5 metres, and adding a fishing platform and new beach access steps. The promenade road initially closed in May 2021 for an 18 month period, before Conwy County Borough Council secured extra funding to complete all the work required on this stretch, extending the project to early 2024.

The scheme is almost finished, and the final pieces of work still needed, such as adding handrails to the new steps, can be completed with the road open.

“We’d like to thank local residents for their patience and hope they enjoy the improved promenade,” said Cllr Goronwy Edwards, Cabinet Member for Environment, Roads and Facilities – Infrastructure.

“The extra funding we received from Welsh Government has allowed us to complete all the work needed between Rotary Way and Splash Point, by The Arches. We have plans ready to go for the final section between Porth Eirias and Rotary Way, as soon as we can get funding.

“This significant civil engineering project is part of the Council’s commitment to improve sea defences all along the county coastline. The Council will start work on improving coastal defences at Kinmel Bay and Towyn after the summer, with schemes for Llandudno and Llanfairfechan also in the pipeline with allocated funding.”

On Facebook, Brian Cossey said: "Just driven along its really impressive. Lots of people walking on it already with their dogs."

Barbara Hughes said: "Thank you to everyone involved in making this area more resilient to the elements whilst giving it a massive facelift too."

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