Speed limit should be reduced after teen’s tragic death
THE speed limit should be cut along a section of a major South Wales road after a teenage pedestrian died in a collision, says a new report.
In the independent report, commissioned in the wake of Rhys Rubery’s death a year ago, road safety experts said the speed limit should be reduced to 50mph from 60mph on the section of the A48 in Bridgend where the schoolboy was hit.
They also recommend that pedestrian refuges should be built in the middle of the road at key locations where people frequently cross, while footpaths and warning signs should be put in place, road markings redone and pavements resurfaced.
Bridgend council said it’s working to complete the designs of the new safety measures so they can be put in place as soon as funding is found.
An initial funding bid to the Welsh Government was unsuccessful.
Rhys, from Pencoed, was 16 when he was in collision with a motorbike while crossing a section of the A48 between the Broadlands and Ewenny roundabouts last July.
The talented teenager, who was a keen hockey player, had been crossing with a group of friends on a section of the road where the speed limit is 60mph.
The inquest into his death heard the oncoming motorbike would have been masked by a car and Rhys would not have seen it.
Rhys’ dad Jon said both he and wife Jo felt the findings of the report by consultants Capita had been “watered down” because they examined a large section of the A48 stretching for five kilometres between Laleston and Waterton.
However, he praised Bridgend council’s handling of the recommendations and its willingness to put in place measures to save lives in the future.
“I recognise that the A48 is one of the major arterial routes out of Bridgend, it’s just a shame much of it is still a legacy of premotorway days which is why there are 60mph and 50mph limits going through largely urbanised areas,” he said. “Something has to be done and hopefully they will get the funding. The council, in its entirety, has been very, very supportive.”
Bridgend cabinet member Richard Young said Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure Ken Skates “has also given assurances that the scheme is first on a reserve list of bids and will be considered should funding become available”.
He added: “In order for work to begin without delay once new funding has been approved, we are getting everything ready now and are making sure that the design process is complete well in advance.”
Capita examined accident statistics stretching back five years and found there had been 32 collisions on the 5km stretch. They also observed pedestrian and vehicle movements.
Five of the 32 collisions occurred on the eastbound approach to the Broadlands roundabout, 10 between the Merthyr Mawr Road and Island Farm Road junctions, three between the Ewenny roundabout and Heronston Lane junction, and five were west of the retail park roundabout.
Capita said there had been a “cluster of collisons” identified on the eastbound approach to the Broadlands roundabout associated with inappropriate traffic speeds. But not all collisions involved pedestrians.
Among the recommended remedial measures in Capita’s report are:
The introduction of a central refuge island at the staggered Merthyr Mawr Road junction;
provision of a footway on the northern verge leading to Merthyr Mawr Road North;
signs erected to warn drivers entering and exiting Merthyr Mawr Road of pedestrians in carriageway;
a second central refuge island should be put in place west of the Island Farm Road junction where an existing public footpath is used as a shortcut to Brynteg Comprehensive; and
a “footway link” should be provided on the northern side of the A48 and clearance/resurfacing of the existing public footpath.