RCT Council Lobbies For Traffic Safety Issues
January 26, 2009
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has met with the Welsh Assembly Government and is pressing Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, to take action to deal with road safety and traffic issues affecting the Cynon Valley.
In a meeting with Assembly transport officials, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Customer Care Councillor Andrew Morgan raised the Council’s concerns over road safety on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road and the delay in the timetable for dualling the sections near Hirwaun.
He is also pressing the Assembly Government to implement measures to increase capacity at the A470 / A4059 roundabout to relieve congestion in Abercynon caused by ‘rat-run’ motorists seeking a shortcut.
Councillor Morgan presented the latest available collision data on the A465 stretch between Hirwaun and Dowlais Top, showing that in the two years preceding 30th June 2008, there were 67 accidents, resulting in 130 injuries, 4 of these being fatal. There have been three further fatalities on the A465 since this data was compiled.
The Council has heavily criticised a decision by the Deputy First Minister to give a lower priority to the A465 dualling, which now states that work on the sections between Hirwaun and Dowlais will not begin until 2014.
In respect of Abercynon, the Council has already acted to address the build up of traffic on Greenfield and Glancynon Terraces and the impact on residents through temporary traffic lights to deter motorists from taking a shortcut to avoid the A470 roundabout. Although the Assembly has since installed traffic lights at the A470 / A4059 junction, the fact that the roundabout is operating near full capacity means that there are still tailbacks and drivers are increasingly reverting to the shortcut through the residential streets of Abercynon.
At the meeting, Councillor Morgan urged the Assembly to bring forward plans for slip roads at the junction that would assist the swifter flow of traffic and reduce motorists’ use of Greenfield and Glancynon Terraces.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Cabinet Member for Highways and Customer Care, said: “There were two main issues I discussed in a constructive meeting with Assembly officials upon which we are requesting action from the Deputy First Minister on.
“Firstly, the A465 is regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the UK, which is borne out by the number of accidents that have occurred there, including, sadly, seven fatalities between Hirwaun and Dowlais in the past two and a half years.
“Despite this, Ieuan Wyn Jones has delayed the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road until 2014. This project is immensely important from a road safety as well as a strategic regeneration point of view with the improved economic and transport links that it would provide. The Deputy Leader, Councillor Anthony Christopher, and I are lobbying the Assembly Government to deliver upon this.
“Secondly, there has been the long standing issue of motorists using Greenfield and Glancynon Terraces as a shortcut to avoid queues at the A470 roundabout. We have put in place temporary traffic lights to deter people from using this route and the traffic signals on the roundabout itself, installed by the Assembly after pressure from this Council, have also helped.
“The Assembly says it is assessing how the situation has improved since the traffic lights were introduced and is considering other options such as slip roads. We have stressed that with the roundabout running near full capacity, a further solution is needed and that the Deputy First Minister needs to act on this.”
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