What’s the cost of a life?
Posted by Lewis on the 7th December 2008
How many more people have to be killed on the Heads of the Valleys Road to convince our AM that three lane roads a dangerous.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/7765939.stm
“The National Assembly’s Special Assembly Procedure Committee backed the original three lane carriageway proposed by Ministers.”
“Christine Chapman AM, Chair of the Committee, said:” The Committee has given a lot of consideration to the evidence and submissions arising from the petitions of Pembrokeshire County Council”
Having travelled on the Heads of the Valleys Road for a number of months little wonder there are fatal accidents on this stretch of road. The white lining needs replacing where motorists are allowed to overtake on the downhill sections, the broken white lines should be replaced with continues lines to prevent the mad situation that now exists.
I just can’t understand how with all the road deaths that has occurred from a three-lane road (Heads of the Valleys) why is the Welsh Assembly even thinking of building a further death trap. Christine Chapman is supposed to be backing plans to duel the Heads of the Valleys Road and chairing a committee backing a three-lane carriageway Why?
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Driver dead after pile-up on Heads of the Valleys Road
Jan 17 2009 by Lisa Jones, Western Mail
A MAN has been killed after a three-car pile-up on a hazardous stretch of road in the South Wales valleys.
The unnamed driver, from Rhigos in the Cynon Valley, was in a Citroen Xsara Picasso, travelling on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road, at Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil, when it crashed with a silver Peugeot 206 and a maroon Audi A4 estate at around 6.15pm on Thursday.
The female driver of the Peugeot, 24, was taken to the town’s Prince Charles Hospital with a suspected fractured pelvis. The occupants of the Audi, a man and woman, both 46, were treated for shock.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/17/driver-dead-afte...
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/17/man-killed-in-pi...
Council Lobbies For Traffic Safety Issues
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has met with the Welsh Assembly Government and is pressing Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, to take action to deal with road safety and traffic issues affecting the Cynon Valley.
In a meeting with Assembly transport officials, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Customer Care Councillor Andrew Morgan raised the Council’s concerns over road safety on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road and the delay in the timetable for dualling the sections near Hirwaun.
He is also pressing the Assembly Government to implement measures to increase capacity at the A470 / A4059 roundabout to relieve congestion in Abercynon caused by ‘rat-run’ motorists seeking a shortcut.
Councillor Morgan presented the latest available collision data on the A465 stretch between Hirwaun and Dowlais Top, showing that in the two years preceding 30th June 2008, there were 67 accidents, resulting in 130 injuries, 4 of these being fatal. There have been three further fatalities on the A465 since this data was compiled.
The Council has heavily criticised a decision by the Deputy First Minister to give a lower priority to the A465 dualling, which now states that work on the sections between Hirwaun and Dowlais will not begin until 2014.
In respect of Abercynon, the Council has already acted to address the build up of traffic on Greenfield and Glancynon Terraces and the impact on residents through temporary traffic lights to deter motorists from taking a shortcut to avoid the A470 roundabout. Although the Assembly has since installed traffic lights at the A470 / A4059 junction, the fact that the roundabout is operating near full capacity means that there are still tailbacks and drivers are increasingly reverting to the shortcut through the residential streets of Abercynon.
At the meeting, Councillor Morgan urged the Assembly to bring forward plans for slip roads at the junction that would assist the swifter flow of traffic and reduce motorists’ use of Greenfield and Glancynon Terraces.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Cabinet Member for Highways and Customer Care, said: “There were two main issues I discussed in a constructive meeting with Assembly officials upon which we are requesting action from the Deputy First Minister on.
“Firstly, the A465 is regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the UK, which is borne out by the number of accidents that have occurred there, including, sadly, seven fatalities between Hirwaun and Dowlais in the past two and a half years.
“Despite this, Ieuan Wyn Jones has delayed the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road until 2014. This project is immensely important from a road safety as well as a strategic regeneration point of view with the improved economic and transport links that it would provide. The Deputy Leader, Councillor Anthony Christopher, and I are lobbying the Assembly Government to deliver upon this.
“Secondly, there has been the long standing issue of motorists using Greenfield and Glancynon Terraces as a shortcut to avoid queues at the A470 roundabout. We have put in place temporary traffic lights to deter people from using this route and the traffic signals on the roundabout itself, installed by the Assembly after pressure from this Council, have also helped.
“The Assembly says it is assessing how the situation has improved since the traffic lights were introduced and is considering other options such as slip roads. We have stressed that with the roundabout running near full capacity, a further solution is needed and that the Deputy First Minister needs to act on this.”
(ENDS)
Editor’s Notes:
Collision Data on the A465 from Hirwaun Roundabout to Dowlais Roundabout.
This stretch is the combination of what is referred to as Sections 5 (Dowlais to A470 junction) and 6 (A470 junction to Hirwaun), which have been reprioritised as “unlikely to start before 2014” from “unlikely to start by April 2010”.
During a two year period ending 30th June 2008:
There have been 3 fatal accidents since 30th June 2008:
18th July 2008 – 1 driver deceased
8th August 2008 – 1 driver deceased, 1 driver slight injury
15th January 2009 – 1 fatality although police report not yet available.
We can only assume there have been other non-fatal accidents as well.
Reprioritisation of A465 dualling
On 2nd December 2008, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM announced WAG’s Reprioritisation of the Trunk Road Forward Programme.
This pushed back the start dates of the four remaining sections of the A465 dualling compared to what the Deputy First Minister said when we pressed him on timescales in October 2007. In the first bracket is what he said in Oct 2007, in the second is the revised timescale. The two sections nearest to RCT are in bold.
§ Section 2 – Gilwern to Brynmawr (could be ready to start by April 2010) (programmed to be ready to start between April 2011 and April 2014)
§ Section 3 – Brynmawr to Tredegar (could be ready to start by April 2010) (programmed to be ready to start between April 2011 and April 2014)
§ Section 5 – Dowlais Top to A470 (unlikely to start before April 2010) (unlikely to be ready to start before April 2014)
§ Section 6 – A470 to Hirwaun (unlikely to start before April 2010) (unlikely to be ready to start before April 2014)
RCT CBC Deputy Leader, Cllr Anthony Christopher wrote to Ieuan Wyn Jones in December expressing concern about this subject and received a reply dated 19th January.
http://tiny.cc/G9bOJ
Campaigners call for a top priority on trunk road expansion
Jan 26 2009 by Jackie Bow, South Wales Echo
A KEY South Wales trunk road must be expanded as a priority to prevent more deaths, campaigners demanded last night.
Seven people have died in the last two-and-a-half years on the Heads of the Valleys road from Hirwaun to Dowlais in Merthyr Tydfil.
And campaigners were last night calling on the Assembly Government to prioritise expanding that stretch of the A465 into a dual carriageway.
Paul Jones, 33, of Cwmaman, Aberdare, whose mum Patricia, 53, was killed in a crash in December 2007, said the work was urgent.
He said: “It’s something that needs to be done as a matter of safety. To me it just goes to show that money is more important than people’s lives.
“Until it’s made into a dual carriageway and a barrier is put in place to give people some protection, people will keep dying and be seriously injured.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council has been at loggerheads with Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones over the work since the Plaid minister announced in December that the timetable for the dualling of the A465 sections was being re-prioritised from “unlikely to start by April 2010” to “unlikely to start before 2014”
The council’s cabinet member Councillor Andrew Morgan reinforced the calls for action to improve road safety in a meeting with assembly transport officials.
Coun Morgan released statistics that show in the two years up to June 30, 2008, on the Hirwaun to Dowlais Top stretch of the A465 there were 67 accidents involving 130 casualties in which four people died. Since then, there have been three more fatalities.
Just 11 days ago 61-year-old grandad David Kenneth Brown, from Rhigos, Aberdare, was killed in a three-car smash on the stretch between Cefn Coed and Dowlais and a second driver was seriously injured.
Another driver lost control of his car and spun into her Vauxhall Astra.
Coun Morgan said his meeting with the assembly officials was constructive.
He said: “The A465 is regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the UK, which is borne out by the number of accidents that have occurred there.
“Despite this, Ieuan Wyn Jones has delayed the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road until 2014.
“This project is immensely important from a road safety as well as a strategic regeneration point of view with the improved economic and transport links that it would provide.”
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/26/campaigners-call...
CYNON Valley AM Christine Chapman and her Cardiff Bay colleague Huw Lewis are backing calls for the Heads of the Valleys Road to be turned into a dual carriageway.
The notorious stretch of the A465 between the Hirwaun roundabout and Merthyr Tydfil has claimed seven lives during the last two and a half years.
As we reported in last week’s Leader, campaigners are making fresh calls on the Welsh Assembly to prioritise expanding the road in the Cynon Valley and Merthyr Tydfil.
Patricia Jones died in a collision on the road in December 2007.
Her son Paul, 33, of Cwmaman, said: “Until something is done, people will keep dying.”
Mrs Chapman and Mr Lewis, the Merthyr AM, held a joint press call on the A465 last week to highlight the problem.
The politicians have joined forces to renew their calls for urgent improvements to the accident blackspot.
Mr Lewis said the Dowlais to Hirwaun stretch has to be one of the most notorious stretches of road in the whole of Wales.
“I simply cannot understand why no action is being taken to sort this out,” he said.
“The casualty list from this spot alone is truly awful.
“There is an economic case and a safety case for dualling this road, but without the political will in place, common sense will not prevail.”
Mrs Chapman said: “I was extremely disappointed to learn the A465 has not been given priority status in terms of investment.
“But with Huw and others, I am going to keep fighting to get this work done.”
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has been at loggerheads with Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones over the work since the Plaid minister announced in December the timetable for the dualling of the A465 sections was being re-prioritised from “unlikely to start by April 2010” to “unlikely to start before 2014”.
RCT council cabinet member Andrew Morgan is reinforcing the calls for action to improve road safety.
Statistics show in the two years up to June 30, 2008, on the Hirwaun to Dowlais Top stretch of the A465, there were 67 accidents involving 130 casualties.
There have also been four fatalities and since then, there have been three more.
“The A465 is regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the UK,” said Coun Morgan,
“This is borne out by the number of accidents that have occurred there.
“But despite this, Ieuan Wyn Jones has delayed the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys Road until 2014.
“This project is immensely important from a road safety as well as a strategic regeneration point of view, with the improved economic and transport links that it would provide.”
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is lobbying the Assembly Government.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/cynon-valley/2009/02/...
Prison term 'inevitable' for death crash driver
Feb 13 2009 WalesOnline
A Royal Navy engineer is facing a prison term later today when he is sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving.
Colin Edward Sharratt was convicted by unanimous verdict last month at Merthyr Crown Court.
The 25-year-old from Swansea was driving his Subaru Impreza estate car along the A465 Heads of the Valley road on the outskirts of Merthyr when he lost control and spun into the path of a Vauxhall Astra.
The Astra driver, 53-year-old Patricia Jones from nearby Aberdare, was killed instantly but her passengers, son Paul Jones and son-in-law Gavin Davies, survived the impact at around 12.50pm on December 28, 2007.
The jury heard Sharratt had been returning to his partner and young child at their home on Wern Terrace in the Port Tennant area of Swansea from the naval base in Portsmouth when the accident happened.
Mr Jones was a key witness in the prosecution case and told the jury his mother only had chance to say ’Oh God!’ before impact after seeing Sharratt’s car spinning out of control and heading straight for them.
He then described how he desperately tried in vain to rouse his mother while they waited for the emergency services to arrive.
Sharratt himself was later found groaning in brambles at the roadside and spent a week in hospital being treated for a ruptured spleen.
During his cross-examination at the trial, Sharratt admitted he was going too fast for the wet conditions on the road.
After the verdict was delivered, Judge John Curran told Sharratt: “I make it clear that a sentence of prison is inevitable.”
An interim driving ban was imposed to cover the period Sharratt spends on bail.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/02/13/prison-term-inev...
Driver jailed after woman's death
A Royal Navy engineer has been jailed for three years for causing the death of a grandmother by dangerous driving.
Petty Officer Colin Sharratt, 25, from Port Tennant, Swansea, lost control of his car, hitting Patricia Jones's car.
Merthyr Crown Court heard he was speeding in heavy rain because he was "impatient" to drive 140 miles home from Portsmouth to see his family.
The judge told Sharratt, who was convicted last month, that a lorry driver said he drove "like a prat".
The court heard he lost control of his Subaru Impreza car on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road in "dreadful driving conditions" at 80mph.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7906434.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4787922/...
“Fatal accident every four months” on major road
By
Alex Moore
– July 16, 2010Posted in: Politics, Pontypridd, Transport
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Accidents on Welsh roads are at an all-time low, but one of the valleys’ key commuter routes sees a fatal crash on average every four months.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said the planned dualling of the Heads of the Valleys road would reduce the collision rate, by making it clearer to drivers where they can overtake.
But this project is not expected to be completed until 2020, and one AM said the statistics were “alarming”, with 585 crashes, including 28 fatal accidents, recorded by police over a decade.
The A465 runs from Neath to Abergavenny, and joins the A4061 two miles north of Treherbert. Information about plans to “dual” the 66-mile road can be found here.
Labour AM Christine Chapman raised the issue of its safety record in the Senedd this week, saying she had received “startling” accident statistics from the two police forces who cover the length of the road.
The Porth-born politician, whose Cynon Valley constituency includes the villages of Glyncoch, Cilfynydd and Ynysybwl, said: “Information from Gwent Police shows that, between 2000 and 2009 there were 281 accidents involving casualties on the stretch between Abergavenny and Dowlais Top, in which seven people were killed and 77 seriously injured.
“Information from South Wales Police reveals that, between Dowlais Top and Hirwaun there were 304 collisions in which people were hurt. Thirty-two of these involved serious injury and 21 involved the loss of life. This is a high number of casulaties.”
Ms Chapman asked Mr Jones to take a “fresh look” at the statistics, to see what can be done to reduce the accident rate.
Speaking at his weekly question-and-answer session, Mr Jones told the Assembly that figures from 2009 showed casualties on road across Wales as a whole were “the lowest since records began”.
He said the “ultimate solution” to the A465 problem lay in the dualling project.
“Undoubtedly, that would reduce the number of casualties,” he said.
“Of course, the A465 has an overtaking lane in the middle, which can lead to uncertainty among drivers, and has no doubt contributed to some accidents.”
http://yourponty.walesonline.co.uk/2010/07/16/fatal-accident-every-four-...
I use this road on a regular basis, the A465 is a good road if you stick to the highway code. It tells you where and when you can over take, the speed is generally 55-65 mph in most ways. occasionally you may get held up at rush hour. The deaths and accidents have mainly been about speeding or bad driving.
Cut your speed and cut the deaths, simples.
The A470 is again a good rood, it would help if the retards pottering along at 45mph would understand this is a trunk road and you need to keep the flow going.
Certain areas are a black spot, Tongwynlais at rush hour, caerphilly turning Northbound in morning, pontypridd northbound anytime mainly due to slow drivers and heavy vehicles trying to access and speeding motorist not anticipating vehicles entering the A470 very slow.
Abercynon roundabout traffic lights what a nightmare, no wonder people get frustrated at rush hour.
Ditches near fatal valleys road crash spot 'blocked'
Ditches which should have prevented water running off fields onto a road where two teenagers died were blocked, an inquest has heard.
The blockages allowed a stream of water to run on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road where Rhiannon Davies, 18, and Jade Emanuel, 17, died.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-10729431
Mother of teenager killed on wet valleys road 'to sue'
Jade Emanuel and Rhiannon Davies The teenagers were flung from the vehicle when it hit water on the road and spun out of control
The mother of a teenager killed on a wet valleys road is considering pursuing legal action over the crash.
An inquest ruled that water on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road was the main cause of the accident which killed Rhiannon Davies, 18, and Jade Emanuel, 17, in 2008.
Jade's mother, Lisa Emanuel, now plans to sue the South Wales Trunk Roads Agency (SWTRA).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-10744688
what speed were they doing ????
https://twitter.com/swpnorth/status/277466253449375744
You never know your luck the whole road could be dual carriageway by 2020, only another seven and bit years to go.
I don't know what happened on the Hirwaun/Merthyr stretch today but hope that no one was seriously injured.
It's one of the most dangerous roads in the UK but being honest the standard of driving on all our roads is appalling.
The three lane heads of the valley road has always been controversial, It was even before it was built, People were warning back then that it would be a death trap.
If a new road is to be built the authorities should make absolutely sure it is going to be the safest possible road.
If it costs an extra few million so be it. It is better to have a shorter but safer road than one that is always going to be an hazard as the heads of the valley road has always been, especially in this day and age where there is so much more traffic.
When in the U k recently I drove many miles to get around between Devon and Herefordshire and many places in between and especially so in Wales and found the driving pretty good although you drive fast. If you think the driving there is bad you should come and see it here, they drive slightly slower but the standard of driving here is shocking by comparison.
Here in Western Australia we have had 177 road deaths this year up to now and we got the Christmas period to go yet which is always a hazardous time on our roads with very high fatalities, It is our main annual holiday time as it's mid summer. Western Australia you must remember is a huge area but very little population with only one fair size city which is Perth the capital. Three lane highways have always been and always will be hazardous when it comes to driving.
Bad drivers are of course bad drivers on any type of road.
http://itv.co/TOBdgu
Good news indeed about adding another lane to the hazardous three lane heads of the valley road. let's hope they take the extension the whole way not as they did in Rhondda Fach where they put a new road from Porth to Pontygwaith instead of going all the way to Maerdy.
That half road is the only new road they've put there in 70 years that I know of and that after all the wealth that has been taken out of that valley over that time.
Shame on them for applying a sop to the long suffering Rhondda Fach valley people.
But there! Those people are loyal Labour supporters aren't
they. That's their reward.
Are you talking about that new bit of car park that has blighted Porth Cymro?
And to think that Rhodri Morgan reputedly send Euro Funding back to Brussels as he had no use for it!
How poorly we the people have allowed ourselves to be served!
I'm not sure what part you are referring to GarfD but they made a new road from Porth to Pontygwaith that replaced the old railway line which I must admit did improve traffic flow between those towns but they said that they didn't have enough money to go the whole length of the valley to Maerdy, so the top half of the valley are left with a sub standard road that should have been upgraded years ago taking into consideration the wealth that's gone out of there.
All the equipment was already there to finish the job but NO they took it all away and will have to bring it all back again if they ever decide to finish the job properly. Which many of the residents think will never happen.
Another fiasco lumped onto the valley people. I bet they wouldn't get away with it in England or even Cardiff for that matter.
They have over spent by billions down in Cardiff Bay. It's about time they came north of Taffs Well and spend some serious money where Cardiff's prosperity came from in the first place. They'll get their votes up there so don't have to worry seems to be their policy. Mind you the apathy of the valleys only brings that attitude on themselves too.
For donkeys years they have put Labour into power and been treated with contempt so maybe they have only themselves to blame.
Oh I apologise cymro, I thought that was car park they made there as, Tesco uses far more tarmacadam when laying out theirs.
It was the use of the outdated single lane system that threw me into think it was a car-park over Porth as I did not think they laid such outmoded transport systems these days, given the increase in traffic.
Also if there was a genuine desire to bring more industry into the Rhondda Fach then it would have been more appropriate to have driven a duel carriage way right up to Mardy and improve the Mardy/Aberdare route on to the Head of the Valleys.
Then you would have a very attractive transport infrastructure. But such projects take innovation and motivation.
When one considers the all out drive to improve both road and rail systems in Europe, projects such as Porth really makes me want to cry in frustration....and shame!
There was more than ample EU funding........ no matter what the Welsh Assembly may wan you to swallow!
A dual carriageway up the Rhondda Garfd ?????
They think they are lucky getting what they did and are grateful of it I know but if only for common sense alone the road should have been taken to the top of the valley to Meardy not stopped half way at Pontygwaith.
There's never enough money when it comes to doing the right thing but they are never short of it when it comes to their salary increases and Perks payouts.
What wonderful communities we could have if there were honest and less greedy politicians available to make sensible decisions regarding our infrastructures and public amenities for the good of everyone and not just the few who think they are entitled to more than the rest of us.
I doubt whether the Rhondda Fach would have the spare width anywhere to build a dual carriageway but a single new road could have gone up on the old railway line as in the first stage.
Right on Cymro.
Innovation and motivation are two words that RCTBC have apparently never come across.
I wont mention the great talking shop, The Weslsh Assembly, as they are totally blind to those things that they do not wish to see!
Questions asked over £800m Heads of the Valleys upgrade
Rhodri Clark, WalesOnlineJan 21 2013Comments (9)
Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2013/01/21/why-is-wales-spe...
https://twitter.com/chrischapmanam/status/296596315763253248
Councils' capital spending to slump by £111m, hitting investment in buildings, roads, transport and social services
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/councils-capital-spending-s...
15 June 2013
SWFRS are currently enroute to an RTC on the A465 between Hirwaun and Baverstocks - tailbacks possible. Drive Carefully
Another RTC today
Crews from Merthyr are in attendance at a RTC on A465 near to Prince Charles Hospital Merthyr. #SWControl NR
http://twitter.com/#!/SWFireandRescue/status/345921186552770561