St Asaph road safety protest at busy junction

Apr 16 2008 By Andy Davies

A ROAD safety campaign moved up a gear on Thursday with a demonstration at the busy junction of the Roe and Lower Denbigh Roads in St Asaph.

The St Asaph Relief Road group of town councillors and members of the public staged the first in a series of demonstrations aimed at raising the profile of the traffic problems which are blighting the town.

For many years the increasing volume of traffic through the narrow streets has been raising safety concerns.

Parents taking their young children to school experience conditions which they frequently describe as ‘frightening’ as they run the gauntlet of heavy goods vehicles on the steep High Street.

One young mum who joined the Thursday protest referred to her walks to school as ‘walking the road of fear’.

She told the Visitor how the wing mirrors of heavy goods vehicles often touched her as she negotiated the narrow footpath alongside the busy High Street.

St Asaph Community Council has been lobbying both Denbighshire County Council and the Welsh Assembly to provide a much needed relief road, and now Caerwys, another historic old town, is suffering the same problems following the closure from the A55 of alternative routes up the Vale of Clwyd.

The people of St Asaph fear that the current situation is simply an accident waiting to happen and an ongoing threat to both safety and the fabric of the buildings within the conservation area.

It is hoped that by raising the profile of the problem the provision of a relief road will gain serious consideration so that a protected route can be established.

The local council has already secured almost 5,000 signatures on a petition in support of a relief road and plans are in hand to secure further signatures before presenting the petition to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff in the near future.