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Petition Number: P-06-1408 Make safe the access to the Secret Garden A4042 Goytre Fawr for both pedestrians and vehicles Petition title: Make safe the access to the Secret Garden A4042 Goytre Fawr for both pedestrians and vehicles Text of petition: This is a popular garden centre with busy tea rooms. Access to the centre off the A4042 (50 mph here) is badly marked with two lanes north-bound reducing to one. Collisions are frequent. Leaving the Garden Centre drivers are free to turn in either direction. Cars often come out too slowly or stall with traffic bearing down on them; another source of incidents. There is no pedestrian access here for the people of the nearby village of Little Mill. The junction does not support Active Travel. Collisions are frequent and unreported near misses more frequent. There is a catalogue of collisions here. Yesterday 9 August two cars collided at around 5:25pm with the road closed in both directions and diversions through Little Mill. Prior to that on 4 June 2023, two cars collided at c. 7:00 am during morning rush hour causing delays in both directions. Happily no serious injuries on either occasion, just traumatised passengers and drivers. This is putting unnecessary pressure on our emergency services which are stretched enough as it is. I feel sure road statistics will confirm just how much of a black spot this site is. Rush hour collisions cause misery for all and extra air pollution. |
The Welsh Government is the highway authority for the A4042 trunk road in south Wales. The South Wales Trunk Road Agent has responsibility for the day to day operation and maintenance of the road.
The petition refers to frequent collisions, and “unreported near misses” on the A4042 at the Secret Garden garden centre – located between Pontypool and Abergavenny.
Senedd Research analysis of the Welsh Government’s road accident level data shows that between 2012 and 2022 (the most recent year for which data are available) there were four collisions, resulting in six casualties, along the stretch of road outside the Secret Garden garden centre - two were “serious” injuries and four “slight” injuries. None was fatal.
However, it is important to note that the data used in official reporting of road accidents in Great Britain are taken from the police STATS19 statistical returns. These report road traffic accidents that resulted in a personal injury and were reported to the police within 30 days of the accident. Data on wider collisions are not routinely collected or reported.
The Welsh Government published its Road Safety Framework in 2013. This set three targets to improve road safety so that by 2020, compared to the baseline average for 2004-2008, there would be:
§ 40% fewer people killed and seriously injured on Welsh roads;
§ 25% fewer motorcyclists killed and seriously injured on Welsh roads; and
§ 40% fewer young people (aged 16-24) killed and seriously injured on Welsh roads.
The road safety framework was reviewed in 2018. The current National Transport Delivery Plan commits to:
… review our road safety framework to support our Vision Zero approach to road safety, based on the belief that no death or serious injury is acceptable on roads. This will support the delivery of our legal obligations on accessibility and safety as a highways authority and complement our work on active travel, road space reallocation and speed limits.
The timescale for the update is given as “2022 to 2024”. A Welsh Government consultation on the new strategy closed on 31 January 2024.
The Welsh Government is currently updating its 2009 guidance on Setting Local Speed Limits in Wales in light of its 20mph speed limit policy as well as other policies such as Net Zero Wales and the Wales Transport Strategy.
The Welsh Government has also introduced a new Roads Policy Statement, implementing the recommendations of the roads review panel. Its conclusions and the Welsh Government response are summarised in this Senedd Research article.
The policy statement makes clear that future purposes for road building will be limited to supporting modal shift, climate adaptation, supporting sustainable access to economic development sites, and to “improve [road] safety through small-scale changes”.
The letter from the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters, to the Chair on this petition says:
Following the implementation of a 50mph speed limit on the A4042 link past the Secret Garden, options have been explored, at preliminary stage, to improve the safety for the travelling public around the point of access.
Investigations have recently taken place to ensure these options are deliverable in terms of the land take required for the associated junction improvements that include active travel provision. We expect to receive the draft feasibility report imminently.
Subject to a favourable review at this feasibility stage and the availability of funding, the scheme would then progress to detailed design during the 2024/25 financial year.
The issue of road safety on this section of road does not appear to have been raised in the Senedd.
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