The stretch of road runs through Snowdonia National Park

The 7.2km stretch of the A470 in Snowdonia has been branded the 'greenest road in Britain' and is one of 15 schemes short listed.

The Dolwyddelan to Pont-yr-Afanc section was part of road improvements which saw modernisation of the highway in an environmentally friendly way.

It is the first time that Wales has been represented at the award.

The A470 was one of 140 entries to the architecture award, which is now in its fifth year.

The National Farmers' Union's Countryside magazine described the stretch of road as being the 'greenest in Britain' after an �18.1 million project to improve road safety and journey time reliability.

Roads are essential, but they can also be beautiful Richard Parnaby, Design Commission for Wales

The road improvement scheme focused on environmental objectives included recycling materials, waste reduction and the reusing of excavated material.

As well as a conservation scheme for various species and habitats - it incorporates a bat hibernaculum and otter passages.

The judges said: "With a great use of local materials and representing a very soft addition to the environment, this scheme shows that roads can also be specific to their geography."

Richard Parnaby, the chairman of the Design Commission for Wales, said: "This scheme demonstrates that the principles of sound environmental design - thoughtful response to the setting, minimising energy inputs, using local materials - can work for any project.

"Roads are essential, but they can also be beautiful," he added.

The road incorporated otter passages

Environment Minister Carwyn Jones agreed.

"This stretch of road is an example of how sustainable development works in practice," he said.

"It proves that you don't have to stop developing transport links if you take an approach which strikes a balance between the needs of road users and the environment.

"Including recycled material in the development is one way of avoiding drawing on our natural resources which I would like to become standard practice in the industry."

It is not the first time that a road has made it onto the shortlist of the award - last year's winner was the A650 Bingley Relief Road, in Yorkshire.

At the time, the AA Motoring Trust said: "The A650 Bingley Relief Road shows that there are still road schemes around that gain public support because they remove the blight of traffic and let communities get on with their lives."

The winner of the award, which is part of the British Construction Industry Awards, will be announced on 13 October.