Bridge closes again

We are having a déjà-vu! We, as in, the inhabitants of north Wales. The ‘old’ bridge to Anglesey has closed again. For everything except pedestrians. 

The same thing happened a few years ago. It seemed that there had been warnings about maintenance being overdue had been issued for years, but nobody had act donate. Until people feared it would actually collapse. And then they closed it, initially for absolutely all traffic. Luckily, after only a few hours they reopened it again for pedestrians. And then it stayed open for only pedestrians for months. 

When it reopened, there was a period of about a year where quite a lot of the time, only one lane was open, and there were traffic lights. It was quite annoying. But it was also needed, as repair work was ongoing. I was really happy when that was finished, and for a while, the bridge was just open in both directions at the same time.

Then its 200th anniversary approached. The media said that the bridge was going to be painted to look good on its birthday. So the traffic lights came back. But not always. Sometimes you saw some blokes with a little pot of paint and a little paintbrush. That just didn't look like it was making much progress! And quite often, you saw absolutely nothing happen. We are now less than two months away from 2026, which is the anniversary year. Barely any of that bridge has been painted! But suddenly, the paint seems to be trivial.

Not quite painted

The first thing that happened was that there was an announcement that a 3 tonne weight limit would be imposed. Up until that point, it had been 7.5 tonnes. But then, in the weekend immediately after, it was announced it would close for all motorised traffic. I suppose the council had decided that is too difficult implement the 3 tonne rule. And apparently, there were some bolts in the bridge that needed replacement, and that was the reason for the changed weight restrictions.

Closed! 

You can imagine that this caused quite some upset. This bridge is in heavy use! In this season, not so much by tourists, but by loads of commuters and the likes. They now have to all go over the other bridge, with predictable traffic jams as a result. Many of my colleagues are not happy. Who is also not happy is everyone who is trading on the Menai Bridge High Street. If everyone comes over the other bridge, they pass the town by quite a margin.

We of ocean sciences have to travel between Bangor and Mair Bridge a lot. Quite a lot of my colleagues do that by car. That now takes forever! It is a big detour, and you have to sit in a queue for a while. I think they would benefit of having a bicycle in their office, like I do, so they can drive to work from however far away they live, and then use that bike if they need to go lecture on main campus. While you're on the bridge you have to walk, but as soon as you are off it you can jump onto the bike and be a lot quicker than when you walk the whole way.

Since all this happened, it has been announced that soon, the bridge will reopen in a one-lane configuration during the day. That will help a lot. It all sounds very disorganised, though. If the bridge reopens, does that mean it is safe for traffic to go across? Then why close it in the first place? Or is it not, and they are just keeping their fingers crossed all will be well? A strange situation! But it looks like this bridge will not celebrate its birthday in style. And I will walk across it a lot in the coming months. But I do hope that in the long run, it will be fit for another 200 years. It is a beautiful bridge, and being one of the first suspension bridges in the UK, also of historic significance!