Brown tourism signs highlighting attractions off North Wales' busiest road have finally be installed following years of campaigning.
MPs, MSs, Councillors and people with businesses near the A55 have long been calling for signs directing motorists to places of interest in St Asaph, Denbigh and Rhuddlan.
Welsh Government guidance on brown signs states destinations must be within 10 miles (16km) and attract 60,000 annual visitors to qualify, which initially ruled out places such as Denbigh and Rhuddlan Castles and St Asaph Cathedral.
However, following pressure from Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies and others, including local councillors, the A55 Vale of Clwyd signage has now been installed on both the westbound and eastbound carriageways of the expressway.
Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies, who became involved in the campaign back in 2015 when he was first elected as the MP for the constituency, said:
“I am extremely pleased that these signs are finally in place. It can be easy to forget that we have such impressive historical landmarks on our doorstep, and it has been a huge missed opportunity not to have been promoting these to visiting drivers in the region.
“It has taken many years of effort to put everything necessary in place, but the signs are now in prominent positions on the A55 and will hopefully be instrumental in boosting visitor numbers to the locations featured.
“I wish to thank all those in the local community who have worked so hard to achieve this end result. I have contacted Denbighshire County Council Highways Department to also thank them for all their work on this and to press the need for eastbound brown signage for Rhyl (at Pensarn) and Prestatyn (at Abergele), and a replacement westbound sign for Rhyl. I have been told that they are about to conduct a review of tourism signage and these signs will be within the scope of this."
St Asaph County Cllr Peter Scott, who was involved in the brown signage campaign from the start, said:
“I first became involved in this project during my time as Deputy Mayor of St Asaph in 2010.
“It has been a lengthy process, so it is great that the signs are finally in place.”
Rhuddlan County Councillor, Ann Davies, added:
“We have been calling for these signs for years, so I very much welcome their installation and look forward to Rhuddlan benefitting from the additional visitor numbers they will hopefully bring to the town.”
