Will the Cabinet Secretary explain why the movable sections of the central reservations along the A55 are not used during roadworks, state when they were implemented and their cost?
The Emergency Crossing Points (ECPs) were installed as a resilience measure between September 2014 and March 2015 at a total cost of £3.97M.
The ECPs were installed following a number of serious collisions on the A55 where carriageways were closed for long periods with traffic trapped behind. The ECPs serve a number of purposes:
- In the event of a serious collision blocking one carriageway the gates can be opened to turn around trapped traffic, allowing the drivers to return to their origin or to find another route to their destination.
- Removing that traffic from the area allows unfettered access to the scene for emergency services and recovery teams.
- Should a long closure of a carriageway be necessary (e.g. where there has been considerable damage) an emergency contraflow can be effected to allow single lane flow in both directions.
The ECPs are unsuitable for use as Maintenance Crossing Points (MCPs) for roadworks as MCPs have significantly onerous design standards making them far longer with increased work required to open them up, for example, removal of long lengths of central reserve safety fence, removal of street lighting and alterations to drainage.