Menai Bridge abruptly closes

I live on the mainland, and my office is on Anglesey. Hence that my commute involves a bridge. And not just any bridge; the Menai Suspension Bridge, or Telford Bridge, was the first major suspension bridge in the world. It is also a Grade one listed monument. And rightly so! It is beautiful. It has changed since it was built in 1826; the bridge deck is suspended from chains, and these have been replaced, I think in 1938. It has also had footpaths bolted onto the sides. I suppose in the olden days, traffic was slower and pedestrians could just walk on the road. Nowadays that’s not recommended.

There recently had been some activities on the bridge. Men aided by cherry pickers had been inspecting the various bits of the bridge. That meant they had to close one lane, so that traffic lights had to be introduced, and queues were not uncommon. But it wasn't really bad.

Then one day I was teaching on the mainland, and suddenly my phone was going ballistic. Something was happening! When I was done teaching, I checked what all the fuss had been about. And the answer was: the bridge had been closed with immediate effect! To absolutely everyone! And that was, of course, quite a big thing for the School of Ocean Sciences, because that is the only part of the University that is actually located on Anglesey. 

The Bridge on Friday the 21st! Picture by Christopher Davies, North Wales live.

There are two bridges to Anglesey; it is not as if the whole island was now isolated. But the thing is; the other bridge is only suitable for motorised vehicles. And it is also a bit of a distance away. In a car that's trivial, but if you are not in a car it isn't anymore. I have never cycled across it. I am not entirely certain if you are legally allowed to, but I have seen people do it. That looks scary, by the way. So everyone who now wants to drive between the mainland and Anglesey has to take the detour. But what about people who are not travelling by car?

Everybody knows that by default, I cycle in. That was what all the pinging in my phone was about. My friends were worried that I would be stuck on the island, and offered me a ride home. Very kind! Fortunately, I was on the mainland already. So that day, this would not affect me.

I also saw that there already were emails flying around about the situation. The main worry was that there had been teaching going on on the island, and that students would have walked over for that. These would now be stuck! But it seemed that the Student Union sorted out a minibus to bring the stranded students back over the other bridge.

With this very vital artery now closed, this would pose some difficulties for us. We also have some colleagues who live quite far east, who come in by train. They then (folding) bike or walk from Bangor to Menai Bridge. No way they could keep doing that! Would they now have to come in by car? And would I now have to come in by car? With the old bridge closed, I couldn't really commute by bike anymore. That really bothered me! It's also not very good for the environment, and SOS already has a parking problem. If everybody has to come in by car it would make things worse.

We also have people biking in from the island; they could still keep doing that, but if they would have to teach on the mainland then they would also have to drive. So practically, everyone would have to drive. Not good! And as well; if you have to take the detour, and there might be queues, it can take a while to get from one place to the other. Timetabling only gives you a 10 minute slot to move between locations. That wouldn't be enough with the old bridge closed for cars! Would timetabling have to always make sure there would be an hour between sessions on the different sides of the Menai Strait? They would probably already have enough worries on their mind!

I also wondered about exercise. The days are short now, so I can't really run after work anymore. Maybe I could run before work? Running from work also would be an issue; if I do that, the first thing I do is cross the bridge. On the Anglesey side of the bridge, beautiful nearby routes are limited.

A picture I took during one of my runs from the office

That evening, the police released a statement saying that they would still keep the bridge open for pedestrians, and that would include dismountEd cyclists. They said, though, that numbers will be limited. I wondered if that would mean queues. I would find out soon! But at least my commute was secured again. And I would again be able to bike between my office and the main campus, be it that I would have to walk a small stretch of that. So the big problem was solved.

It is a bit of a worrying situation, though, if they think a few pedestrians are already so heavy that they can bring the entire bridge down. I mean, that would be the reasoning behind limiting numbers, wouldn't it? But up until the early afternoon, lorries would still have crossed that bridge. I don't think local authorities will close such a vital piece of infrastructure if they don't have a very good reason for it. So something must really be amiss with the bridge!

Repair is expected to take us into the New Year. And as long as there is pedestrian access, it won't affect me all too much. But it won't be pleasant. The new bridge, Britannia Bridge (or rather, the slightly less old bridge, as this one was built in the 1840s; originally it was only a rail bridge, but since 1980 it has also accommodated road traffic) only has two lanes on it, and already struggles with the amount of traffic that is trying to use it on a regular basis. If it has to take literally all the motorised vehicles, it will be worse! And there was already mention of a 30 mph speed limit, while originally this was 50 mph. I already heard village gossip about people being stuck on the wrong side of Britannia bridge for hours, due to the travel chaos the abrupt closure of Telford bridge had created. There will be more of that!

The authorities also have the issue of storms to think about. Britannia Bridge closes for high-sided vehicles and motorbikes in high winds, and to all traffic in really really high winds; the latter is rare, but not unheard-of. The former traditionally happens several times a year. But closing both bridges for some or all vehicles would be extremely disruptive! What are they going to do? Do it anyway and accept that people will get stranded? Just not close Britannia bridge in a storm? And just hope that no vehicles will be blown off the bridge? Or blown sideways into the wrong lane, creating head-on collisions? It is easy to see the disadvantage of that.

We will have to see how this pans out! But I do hope that in early 2023, we will get the bridge back in all of its former glory and structural integrity! It is a fine piece of engineering, and I hope they can get it ready for the next century again…