Clwyd West MS Darren Millar, who last year set up a petition to urge the Welsh Government to release the capital investment needed to carry out improvements to a Ruthin road, has expressed concern that the project has been scrapped by Ministers in Cardiff Bay.
Yesterday, the Welsh Government published the final report of the independent Roads Review and a number of schemes which were due to be carried out across Wales have been ditched, including improvements to the A494 Lôn Fawr Ruthin/ Corwen Road junction.
Lôn Fawr and Corwen Road are gateways into Ruthin and part of a key circular route for traffic and residents, but parts of Lôn Fawr are dangerously narrow, which is not acceptable for a Trunk Road. In addition to this, the priority at the junction with Corwen Road needs re-engineering to improve safety.
Last year, Darren launched a petition calling on the Welsh Government to carry out the improvements as soon as possible, warning of the potential danger to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. He is therefore critical of the decision announced this week.
Challenging the Deputy Minister for Climate change in yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, he said:
“There are three schemes that are referred to in my constituency in the roads review report all of which are going to be scrapped.
“These are schemes that I've corresponded with you and your predecessors on, over many years, and each time I've corresponded with you, up until the roads review started, everything had a green light and the work was going ahead, now they've been axed.
“The Corwen road, and Lôn Fawr junction works, on the A494 in Ruthin have been promised for a very long time. It's a gateway into Ruthin, a dangerous junction that needs to improve in order to deliver active travel on a circular route, around Ruthin as a town and yet you're scrapping a piece of work that will enable the delivery of that. I believe you're in favour of active travel, but I don't see how that decision is consistent with your ambition to deliver it.”
Speaking after the meeting, Darren added:
“This stretch of the A494 poses a serious risk to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians and I am regularly contacted by local residents raising concerns.
“People should feel safe on our roads, but sadly won’t because of the Welsh Government slashing vital road projects across the country.
“In yesterday’s meeting, I challenged the Minister to come to Clwyd West so that I can give him a tour and he can then see for himself the problems that his decision will now leave unaddressed and why scrapping these schemes just doesn't make any sense.”
