Having made repeated calls over the years for safety measures on the A494, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has raised the matter in the Senedd again, after the road recently claimed another life.
Darren has long been urging the Welsh Government to review highway safety on the A494 following a number of serious accidents, but with little progress to date, this week in the Senedd, he raised the matter again.
Calling for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary with the responsibility for the trunk road network in Wales, he said:
“Unfortunately, there are projects on the A494 trunk road in Denbighshire that were shelved as a result of the moratorium on investment in new capital projects.
“One was improvements to the the Lôn Fawr/Corwen Road junction in Ruthin, which the former First Minister visited last year to see for himself the dangers at that particular location. And the other was the improvements to the Maes Gamedd junction in Gwyddelwern, which were also shelved, even though it had been on the schedule for capital investment for decades.
“In addition, the A494 saw another fatality over the weekend, between Llanferres and Loggerheads.
"This is a dangerous road, there are safety issues that need to be addressed, constituents are asking that these junctions be given a priority, and that the speed limit, particularly between Llanferres and Loggerheads, be reduced and average-speed cameras installed to prevent the sort of terrible accidents, life-changing accidents and deaths, that we've seen in recent years.”
Responding, the Welsh Government's Trefnydd (Business Manager), said “I know the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales will want to respond to you and hear the evidence of the particular issues that are affecting people at this point in time”.
Speaking afterwards, Darren said:
“This is a matter of life and death. Sadly, we have already seen too many fatalities on this stretch and unless urgent action is taken, there will undoubtedly be more. It is therefore vital that the Cabinet Secretary prioritises these safety measures.”
Watch Darren’s contribution in the Welsh Parliament below:
