THE Welsh Government has been urged to fund improvements on a centuries-old Grade II-listed River Wye bridge amid concerns over pedestrian safety.

Monmouthshire Council unveiled plans some three years to widen the upstream pavement of Monmouth’s stone-built Wye Bridge, which was constructed in 1615 on the site of a timber bridge dating back to the 1200s.

That was joined to a scheme to add a third lane to the A40 dual carriageway from Monmouth Rowing Club to the crossing, for vehicles to turn left over the bridge at the traffic lights, but to date nothing has happened.

A separate scheme sponsored by Monmouth Town Council and now backed by the county council has also proposed building an ’Active Travel’ pedestrian and cycling footbridge yards upstream of the historic two-lane crossing, with designs drawn up last year, and an intended construction date of 2022.

The main Wye Bridge carries the A466 Wye Valley road 71 metres over the river to meet the A40 at Monmouth.

It is a popular and convenient shortcut for lorries coming to and from the Forest of Dean, but due to the width of the bridge, large HGVs sometimes struggle to manoeuvre around the bends in the road and need to enter the opposite carriageway or mount the narrow pavement.

Now Monmouth MP David Davies, who lives in the town, has urged the Welsh Government to fund bridge safety improvements before someone gets hurt, with one councillor already calling for HGVs to be banned from the crossing.

Mr Davies says he had been contacted by residents reporting numerous incidents of "close shaves" where pedestrians have nearly been hit by wing mirrors and vehicles mounting the pavement.

And he believes it’s only a matter of time before there is a serious accident.

"Walking over the Wye Bridge is a frightening experience no matter what time of day," said Mr Davies.

"A large number of school pupils use the bridge and I echo concerns expressed by both the principal of Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools and worried parents about how dangerous it is.

"Continual heavy traffic and congestion also means you have daily pollution from trucks and cars, which is unpleasant."

Various proposals have been mooted over the years to improve safety and reduce traffic delays.

In 2018, Monmouthshire County Council received Welsh Government funding for design and contract preparation for the A40 Wye Bridge Transpiration Scheme.

There were plans to widen the A40 southbound approach and create a dedicated left-turn lane for traffic using the A466 Wye Bridge.

The scheme also included a proposal to reduce the width of the pavement on the downstream side of the bridge so a widened pavement could be created on the upstream side without having to decrease the width of the road itself.

The town council also reported last year that its proposal for a new ’active travel’ bridge for pedestrians and cyclists just upstream had "hopefully passed" Natural Resources Wales flood model requirements.

Earlier this year, a county council spokesperson said: "The widening of the existing pavement has been difficult to achieve due to the restricted width of the bridge and structural issues.

"However a scheme for a new Active Travel bridge upstream of the existing Wye Bridge is currently being designed.

"The new bridge has been widely supported by the public and is currently going through all the regulatory processes that are needed to ensure the success of building a safe walking and cycling route over a new bridge.

"Funding to build the bridge was approved by Welsh Government earlier this month and subject to Natural Resources Wales’ approval on flooding requirements, the detailed design and tendering process will start later this year with construction in 2022."

However, the scheme could run into heritage opposition at the planning stage, owing to the Wye Bridge being listed and its unobstructed view being a historic one dating back hundreds of years, to when Monmouth was a working river port, with at least one photo from the mid-1800s showing men working beside a boat with the bridge and wharf wall in the background.

A pedestrian crossing already exists 500m downriver linking Chippenham fields and Overmonnow with the Wye Valley road and Wyesham on the old railway bridge, which ceased being used by trains in the 1960s.

Mr Davies has meanwhile written to Economy Minister Vaughan Gething asking for clarification on which schemes, if any, the Welsh Government intends to support.