A498 road

The A498 is a 16-mile road between Pen-y-Gwryd and Porthmadog in North Wales.

At Pen-y-Gwryd, the A4086 Llanberis Pass route bears off to the north. The A498 descends from a 277 m (909 ft.) summit at Pen-y-Gwryd and runs south west through the village of Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass, where it overlaps the A4085. The A498 then passes through Tremadog, overlapping the A487 for a short length before passing under the Cambrian Coast railway and terminating at Penamser on the A497 (52°56′01″N 4°09′15″W / 52.9336°N 4.1543°W / 52.9336; -4.1543 (A498 road (southern end))), about a mile west of Porthmadog. At its northern end, the road forms a link via the A4086 with the A5 at Capel Curig, forming a useful holiday route to the Beddgelert/Porthmadog area. At the junctions, the A4086 to Llanberis is the minor road at Pen-y-Gwryd, while the A498 is the minor road at Beddgelert. At Pont Aberglaslyn, the A4085 is the minor road diverging to Penrhyndeudraeth and at Tremadog, the A498 is the major road. The junction west of Tremadog is a roundabout and at Penamser, the A498 is the minor road.

The A498 descends the Nant Gwynant Pass via a 1¾ miles section with limited width and poor alignment

There is a steep descent of Nantgwynant and some 1¾ miles of this is on a substandard, narrow twisting alignment, where larger vehicles have difficulty in passing. There are further substandard sections in the Aberglaslyn Pass and towards Tremadog and coaches have had difficulty passing in this section. The road passes through Beddgelert by way of a sharp right angled bend over a river bridge, not recommended for articulated vehicles. In the Aberglaslyn Pass the trackbed of the Welsh Highland Railway, now being reconstructed, can be seen on the opposite side of the Afon Glaslyn. At its west end, the route crosses the new A487 Porthmadog Bypass at a roundabout west of Tremadog.

Recent improvements

In late 2008 the Bryn-y-felin road bridge was rebuilt over the Welsh Highland Railway as part of Gwynedd Council's WHR Bridges policy. Unfortunately the bridge was rebuilt without a footpath and of such narrow dimensions that any vehicles wider than a standard car find it difficult to pass.

History

The road was created from early toll roads. There was some improvement in the 1960s/70s in Nantgwynant and south of the Aberglaslyn Pass. Just south of the Goat Hotel in Beddgelert is an arched railway overbridge (with height and width restrictions) built by the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway but never used.

References

A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme A4 A40 A41 A42 A43 A44 A45 A46 A47 A48 A49 A403 A404 A405 A406 A412 A413 A414 A415 A417 A418 A419 A420 A421 A422 A423 A425 A426 A427 A428 A429 A431 A432 A433 A435 A441 A442 A444 A445 A446 A448 A449 A452 A453 A454 A456 A458 A461 A465 A468 A469 A470 A472 A473 A474 A475 A476 A477 A478 A482 A483 A484 A485 A486 A487 A488 A489 A490 A491 A493 A494 A496 A497 A498 A499 A4005 A4006 A4008 A4010 A4012 A4018 A4025 A4032 A4037 A4040 A4042 A4050 A4053 A4054 A4055 A4059 A4060 A4061 A4063 A4067 A4069 A4074 A4076 A4080 A4085 A4094 A4103 A4107 A4109 A4110 A4113 A4117 A4118 A4119 A4123 A4130 A4133 A4135 A4136 A4138 A4142 A4146 A4148 A4150 A4155 A4160 A4161 A4169 A4173 A4174 A4202 A4212 A4216 A4217 A4221 A4226 A4230 A4232 A4234 A4240 A4241 A4260 A4361 A4400 A4536 A4540 List of A roads in Zone 4 List of B roads in Zone 4

Coordinates: 53°01′04″N 4°05′41″W / 53.0179°N 4.0946°W / 53.0179; -4.0946 (A498 road)