A SECOND public meeting has been called to address the dangerous situation on the Raglan A40 interchange after yet another car smash at the accident blackspot over the bank holiday weekend.

It comes just over two months after a similar incident on June 4 which left three in hospital following a collision between two cars when firefighters used hydraulic cutting equipment to cut the injured out of the vehicles.

Gwent Police said:” We received a report of a road traffic collision on the A40 at around 1.40pm on Friday 26 August. Officers attended to assist with traffic management, along with personnel from the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The collision involved two cars, a Ford Fiesta and a Fiat Panda.The driver of the Fiat Panda, a 75-year-old-man, was taken to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff by paramedics, for treatment.”

A meeting on June 24 saw Raglan Community Council meet with officers from Welsh Government, Monmouthshire County Council Highways, the MP and Senedd Member Peter Fox MS, along with ward members Penny Jones from Raglan and Richard John and Jayne Mckenna from Mitchel Troy.

At this meeting officers representing the absent Welsh Government deputy climate change minister Lee Waters, whose remit includes road safety, confirmed a planned safety study on this stretch of road will take place during the next financial year “at the latest”.

Mr Fox said at the time that without measures and safety improvements, he fears it is only a “matter of time” before there is another serious accident which all-too-soon proved him to be right.

Now another meeting following the latest crash has been pencilled in for September 19 at a venue yet to be confirmed

Adrian Edwards, clerk to Raglan Community Council, said that they had invited Monmouthshire County Council Highways to support them in lobbying Welsh Government and their agents, but came back with the following statement: “Lobbying the Welsh Government is not an appropriate space for MCC officers, so as initially proposed, the meeting doesn’t sound like one that I and colleagues can attend.

“I’m aware that a WG officer attended your previous meeting and undertook to do a ‘study’ of the A40 trunk road”.

Residents of Raglan, and surrounding communities will be welcome to attend and express their views and concerns at the next meeting.

Commenting on the latest collision, Richard John said: “This is another horrendous accident at this well known blackspot, which needs urgent action to prevent further serious collisions. Our thoughts are with those involved and our thanks go to the emergency services and air ambulance for their rapid response.

“This stretch of road is unsafe, which is why we’ve been in meetings this summer with Raglan and Mitchel Troy Community Councils, Cllr Penny Jones, Monmouthshire County Council, the Welsh Government, Peter Fox MS and David Davies MP to agree the changes we think Welsh Government should make to the road to reduce the risks.

“The limit from the Raglan roundabout to the A40/A449 slip roads should be reduced to 50mph with enforcement and two of the three right hand turns should be removed, forcing traffic to turn at the roundabout rather than risk crossing several lanes of fast moving traffic.

“Welsh Government projects are prioritised based on the number and severity of accidents, which seems so perverse. How many more accidents do we need to have before this road will get the action it needs? We will continue to work with our colleagues to put pressure on Welsh Government to make the necessary changes to make this road safer for everyone.”