Low-cost changes to A483 'may save lives', says politician
Lives could be saved by making simple, low-cost changes to a key road in Shropshire, it has been claimed.
Susan Elan Jones, MP for Clwyd South, met Chirk's borough councillors Ian Roberts and Terry Evans to discuss ways to increase safety on the A483 near Chirk.
The A483 between the Gledrid roundabout near Oswestry and Halton roundabout near Chirk is well known as an accident blackspot, with several fatalities and serious incident in recent years.
The most recent was last month when two brothers driving a tractor were left perilously close to the edge of the bridge across the River Ceiriog following a crash.
Whenever there is an accident along that stretch which closes the road, traffic has to be diverted though Chirk, causing long tailbacks. Maintenance of the road, which crosses the border between England and Wales when it crosses the river, is split between the Welsh Assembly and the Department for Transport. Councillor Roberts said: "I think in every case the accident had been caused by overtaking."
Four suggestions were put forward – making the road a single carriageway from Gledrid to Ruabon; stopping overtaking; lowering the speed limit to 40 mph; and painting chevrons on the road to ensure drivers keep their distance.
Councillor Evans said: "I believe we need to have crash barriers along both bridges which stops drivers from overtaking. I think the whole stretch from Gledrid to Ruabon needs to have double white lines and no overtaking at all. The speed limit in my view needs to be 40 to 50mph. These are things that could be achieved at very little cost."
But he said suggestions by MP Owen Paterson that the stretch should be made a dual carriageway were not feasible.
"Dual carriageway along that stretch won't happen at the moment and probably not for the next 10 years or ever as the cost would be off the Richter scale," he said.
