A ROAD safety study commissioned by the Welsh Government has drawn up six options to improve the A40 junctions near Raglan and has been welcomed by the two Conservative county councillors for Mitchel Troy and Trellech, Richard John and Jayne McKenna.
The study, undertaken by consultants WSP, cited six accidents between June 2017 and March 2023, at least two of which were attributed to motorists misjudging the speed of traffic on the A40 between the Raglan roundabout and the A449/A40 slip roads.
The report has identified six key safety issues: Uncontrolled right turning movements unable to make the turn in one movement; Queuing capacity for right turning movements; Pedestrian usage of junction without appropriate infrastructure provision; High vehicular speeds along the A40; Proximity of A449 / A40 slip roads to Raglan Interchange; U-turning movements occurring between A40 Westbound and A40 Eastbound carriageways utilising Groesenon Road.
The report cites three potential quick wins, measures which could be implemented within the next 12 months – one of which, a 50mph limit from the Raglan roundabout to the A40/A449 slip roads has already been implemented. The other two are to prevent right hand turns from Monmouth Road on to the A40 eastbound and from the A40 westbound on to Groesonen Road towards Dingestow and Mitchel Troy.
Options were drawn up based on the principles of the Welsh Government’s Roads Review, which aims to cut carbon emissions and reduce capacity on the road network.
The six options are: Introducing traffic lights at the Monmouth Road and Groesonen Road junctions and a new straight A449 slip road to a T junction to join the A40; Introducing a merged junction with traffic lights and a new straight A449 slip road to a T junction to join the A40; Banning the right hand turns and creating a new roundabout between the Raglan junctions and the A40 and A449 slip roads; Banning the right hand turns and creating a new roundabout at the A40/A449 slip roads; Creating a new roundabout on the Raglan junctions and introducing traffic lights on the A40 southbound and A449 northbound slip roads; Converting the dual carriageway between the Raglan roundabout and the A40/A449 slip roads to a single carriageway
Cllr Richard John said, “Residents have been waiting years for this road safety study to be undertaken so we’re delighted that finally some options have been drawn up to make the junctions safer.
“These are interesting options that will need to be weighed up against a number of factors to determine how best to prevent more lives being put at risk. We want to see improvements delivered quickly so we worry that costly proposals could be years in the planning.
“We also have concerns about reducing the dual carriageway to a single carriageway as this could introduce new risks and would be a strange move when Welsh Government is still spending billions of pounds dualling the Heads of the Valleys road.”
Cllr Jayne McKenna said, “Every day, residents worry about crossing this junction and are fearful of yet another accident, so it’s been a cause of extreme frustration that it has taken so many years to get to this stage. While some of these proposals would be very expensive, it’s important that quick wins like removing two of the three right hand turns are not ignored.
“The public need to be properly consulted on these options.”
Penny Jones said, “Raglan residents are waiting anxiously for a decision to be made by Welsh Government regarding the Raglan A40 junction. This has been an ongoing issue for many years and a solution needs to be chosen before there’s a fatality.”
