Contractors hit roadblock on A483 plan

It appears that a three-year wait is finally coming to an end for the five contractors that have been hoping to pick up the tender paperwork for a £35.7m Highways Agency (HA) scheme on the A483, straddling the border between England and Wales.

But the conclusion of the A483 Pant to Llanymynech deal is unlikely to be the one the firms were hoping for.

A source close to the project told CJ: "I doubt now if this scheme will ever hit the road. The trouble is the project is relatively low priority and the government wants to spend its money on other schemes that it sees as more important and higher profile."

The insider continued: "And even if this project does somehow manage to attract the necessary funds it will all have to be advertised again – for a third time."

The project first came up for grabs in 2002, when it was expected to cost £14m.

But a year later, the HA was forced to shred its original ad and retender the scheme after a massive hike in the project’s value.

The client then shortlisted five firms – Amec, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Mowlem and a Hochtef/Alun Griffiths joint venture – to vie for a contract that had more than doubled in price to £35m-plus.

But the tender documentation was never sent out to them, because the deal then became subject to a government spending review.

One contractor said: "All this has been going on for so long we’ve almost forgotten about the whole thing. It’s not really a surprise that the scheme now looks all but doomed – the omens have been bad for some time."