A55 - North Wales Expressway - Time Lapse

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• published: 29 Jul 2012
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The A55 is the high-speed dual-carriageway leading from the M56 and M53 in England, along the coast of North Wales, to the port at Holyhead. In the summer months it is busy with holiday traffic, as large parts of North Wales are popular with tourists. The A55 passes through vastly varying scenery - from the rolling hills of the Clwydian Range in the East, through the flatter Vale of Clwyd to meeting the coast of the Irish Sea at Abergele. Between Colwyn Bay and Conway, the road is a "special road", which means that it is a motorway in all but name (sometimes called a "secret motorway"). To the west, we meet the mountainous terrain of the northern Carneddau range in Snowdonia, before the road crosses the Menai Straits onto the island of Anglesey. Parts of the road proved to be a difficult engineering task - as there are three sets of tunnels. At Conwy, the A55 passes underneath the estuary of the River Conwy in an immersed tube tunnel. Between Conwy and Llanfairfechan, the Carneddau mountain range meets the sea, and two tunnels head straight through the mountains. This video was taken westbound between Ewloe near Chester and Bangor, a distance of 50 miles (80km). It is a time-lapse, sped up 4 times - so you can imagine driving along at speeds of up to 280 mph. I apologise for the dirty windscreen - unfortunately when driving in warm weather it's inevitable that flies will get stuck to the window. Things to look out for: 3:23 The steep descent at Rhuallt Hill 4:35 The marble church at Bodelwyddan 6:08 Start of the "secret motorway" with 70mph signs - rare in the UK (ends at 8:30) 6:15 First view of the Irish Sea and the Great Orme peninsula 7:30 A train on the parallel coastal rail line 8:10 The Conwy tunnels (under River Conwy) 8:41 and 9:27 Tunnels through the mountains Social Media: Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichardB1983 Twitter: http://twitter.com/rb357 Instagram: http://instagram.com/RichardB_1983 Google Plus: http://google.com/+RichardB1983