It’s time to find road solutions
County council launches new consultation Residents to have their say on possible solutions Hope for end to years of misery for homeowners
A PUBLIC consultation is being held over improving traffic flow along Llanelli’s Sandy Road.
What’s the point in a greener world if the infrastructure cannot be put in place so people can enjoy better quality of air?
Sandy Road resident
Ray Jones
A PUBLIC consultation is being held over options for improving traffic flow along Llanelli’s Sandy Road.
Carmarthenshire Council, working with transport engineers at Atkins, is opening a three-week consultation allowing anyone with an interest in the traffic along the A484 to have their say.
The consultation follows several investigations and topographical surveys which has led to some proposals being developed.
Residents in the immediate vicinity of proposed schemes were invited to a presentation allowing them to speak to the project team before the public consultation opened online yesterday.
The consultation seeks to find out how people travel through Sandy Road and how people feel about the improvement proposals
Feedback will be reported to the council’s executive board before any decisions are made.
Cllr Hazel Evans, the council’s executive board member for environment, said: “We have been looking at options for traffic improvement in this area and I’m pleased we are bringing forward this consultation which will allow us to gather people’s views on the proposals put forward by our transport engineers.
“I would encourage anyone who lives in the area or who uses the road to have their say.”
Residents said they have campaigned for years calling for a solution to the traffic misery and pollution on their doorsteps.
Four years ago new traffic lights – which were a condition of the planning approval for a new housing estate and retail development in the area – were installed but have caused complaints over an increase in congestion and continued poor air quality.
Ray Jones, who lives in Sandy Road, said the levels of pollution in the area were concerning due to the congestion and maintains a bypass is the only long-term solution.
Mr Jones has even sent transport engineers Atkins his own feasibility study to end the misery being experienced by drivers and homeowners.
In September, 2018 a Carmarthenshire Council Air Quality Progress report conceded that “some nitrogen dioxide measurements have increased slightly over the last few years” in the Sandy Road area.
Figures at the time showed Sandy Road had nitrogen dioxide levels bordering on 39.8ug/m3 - an increase from 38.7ug/ m3 in 2016 and 33.4ug/m3 in 2015.
Mr Jones said the latest levels of 39.8ug/m3 were almost hitting the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) safe limit on traffic air pollution of 40 ug/m3.
He has recently leafleted residents in the street calling for them to continue to push Carmarthenshire Council for a long-term solution to the traffic problem.
He has been campaigning for a bypass for more than 30 years but says a recurring argument against any such scheme is the potential harm it could bring to the use of the Millennium Coastal Path, despite, as he argues, residents along Sandy Road living with traffic congestion and pollution for years.
Mr Jones said: “What’s the point in a greener world if the infrastructure cannot be put in place so people can enjoy better quality of air? Air pollution from traffic will not increase as the area the bypass would be built in, it would have a green environment around it.
“It would have a large ‘diluting’ affect on traffic emissions, and Sandy Road would have its air pollution down by at least 70%.”
Reacting to the public consultation getting under way, MP Ms Griffith said: “The key thing about this consultation is that it needs to be meaningful and the council must really listen to residents and users of Sandy Road, before deciding on a preferred option.
“Since the installation of the traffic lights, Lee Waters and I have been calling on Carmarthenshire Council to deal with the traffic congestion, and, most importantly to consult with local residents.
“In the absence of any action from the council, we organised a consultation exercise with residents in February 2018.
“We published the results and provided the detail of a number of options, as suggested by residents, to the council.”
While MS Mr Waters said: “Since the completion of the new estate, air quality along Sandy Road has been a growing problem. In my previous role as Deputy. Transport Minister in the Welsh Government, I indicated that we will fund a solution on Sandy Road.
“The council have been very slow to respond, and it is frustrating that they are only now sharing their plans with residents. It is vital that residents are fully involved and consulted before the council decides on its preferred option.”
For further information and to provide feedback, visit the consultation page on Carmarthenshire Council’s website at www.carmarthenshire. gov.wales/home/councildemocracy/consultationperformance/currentconsultations/