Accident at roundabout on A4042/This is the letter that NAG forwarded to all Torfaen Borough Councillors and the people listed on the letter, following the traffic accident and the resulting traffic gridlock around New Inn and Griffithstown

by NAG - 11:36 on 19 April 2008

To:

Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Wales 

Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, First Minister 

Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, Transport Minister 

Lynne Neagle AM for Torfaen 

All Torfaen Borough Councillors 

A serious accident took place at approximately 3.00 pm on 15th April 2008 on the Rechem roundabout at New Inn Pontypool between a juggernaut lorry and a car. The northerly access on the A 4042 towards Pontypool was completely blocked. This caused traffic chaos in Griffithstown and New Inn including Pontyfelin Lanefor approximately three hours. At 5.20 pm a police spokesperson confirmed that all local roads were gridlocked. This emphasises the fact that the local road network is not able to cope with the volume of traffic when the major arterial road (A4042) is blocked. On 5th February this year Torfaen Borough Council gave planning approval for Shanks Management to build a recycling plant on the old Rechem site in Pontyfelin Lane, New Inn. The building of the plant is subject to TBC adopting MBT as its waste strategy (a 106 agreement), however, if TBC accept MBT it would mean up to1000 HGV’s weekly will be emerging onto this roundabout. The speed of some vehicles on the roundabout is sometimes in excess of 30 miles an hour and to get onto the roundabout can be a very dangerous exercise. To add up to 1000 HGV’s weekly into an already problematic and congested area will lead to further accidents/incidents causing situations similar to the one experienced on 15th April thereby inconveniencing local people and everyone using the A4042 between Cwmbran and Blaenavon. We cannot understand why all the transport agencies involved in the Shanks planning application concluded that the extra vehicles to and from the plant would have no effect on traffic flow when it is evident that we are already experiencing problems due to accidents on the roundabout and the A4042, this is in addition to the long queues during peak hours on all the roads leading to the roundabout including the A4042 north and south. A presentation given during the meeting on 5th February opposing the planning application made it quite clear to everyone present our concerns regarding traffic movement. We would be interested to have the transport agencies comments in the light of the incident on 15th April 2008 and urge you to initiate an investigation.

New Inn Action Group

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