RESIDENTS and business owners in Rhos-on-Sea have mixed opinions about plans to introduce a one-way system on the seafront.

Conwy County Council is currently holding public exhibitions showcasing the plans for the seafront and the road system at Rhos-on-Sea’s West Promenade.

The council has already started work on the £20m coastal defence project.

READ MORE: Watch as sand imported to stretch of Rhos-on-Sea beach

The work will see one million tonnes of sand being imported to the beach and a new rock groyne to stop flooding.

But the promenade is also being widened and enhanced as part of the scheme, which includes the one-way system being introduced on the West Promenade for traffic travelling towards Colwyn Bay.

But whilst the lower promenade will be reduced to a single lane, the Cayley Promenade road along the top of the embankment will remain two-way.

But this means more traffic will be rerouted through residential areas, and a council report has predicted a 778 per cent increase in traffic on the Cayley Promenade.

Consequently residents fear lorries and buses using the Cayley Promenade will rev their engines to change gear whilst travelling uphill, causing noise and air pollution.

But while some residents oppose the plans, others look forward to the enhanced facilities on the prom, which include play areas, a shared pedestrian and cycle route, a seaside pedestrian-only walkway, and new kiosks, shelters, and picnic areas.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service visited Rhos-on-Sea to ask people what they thought about the plans

Tracy Betts runs the Little Gift Company on Penrhyn Avenue and couldn’t wait for the plans to be completed.

“It has to be done,” she said.

“It will be an improvement. I think the work will make it safer for people because of the volume of people on the prom and cars travelling in both directions.

“The promenade is not very wide, and they are going to widen it.

“I think once the work is done, it will be better for everyone, and they are going to improve the beach and work on the sewers too.”

Resident Naomi Roberts was working in her daughter’s shop and believed the changes to the road could cause parking problems.

“I think it could make parking in Rhos-on-Sea more difficult,” she said.

“It is always quite difficult to park in Rhos-on-Sea, so it (the changes to traffic) could affect traffic.

Visitor Robert Hughes added: “Nobody wants all that traffic up near those houses.

“The windows will be shaking with all the lorries going that way.”

Resident Valerie Morris also worked in one of Rhos’ many shops.

“I’m very much against the one-way system, mainly because it impinges on the houses (above the Cayley Promenade),” she said.

“I feel very sorry for the people living in the houses. The one-way system impinges on the tranquillity of the area.”

The drop-in exhibition is at the site office at West Promenade, Rhos-on-Sea:

  • Friday 26 August (1pm – 6pm)
  • Saturday 27 August (9am – 3pm)
  • Wednesday 7 September (9am – 1pm)
  • Thursday 8 September (3pm – 7pm)