TRAFFIC could be prevented from turning right onto a trunk road near a notorious accident blackspot – but councillors have called for action from the Welsh Government as well. 

Monmouthshire County Council is proposing to make an order which would prevent traffic turning right from Monmouth Road onto the A40 near to its interchange with the A449 at Raglan. 

Cllr Catrin Maby, the Labour cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said preventing the right turn, which means traffic has to cross two lanes of traffic to head towards the interchange, is “the only step the council can take” itself. 

The trunk roads are the responsibility of the Welsh Government and councillors have agreed Cllr Maby should write to it and call for a fully funded road safety study in 2023/24 and that the government commit to delivering any recommended improvements “without delay”. 

When the issue was debated by councillors, Jayne McKenna, who represents Mitchel Troy and Trellech, said her mother once had to inform a neighbour their child had been killed on the road. 

And she said there had been three “major accidents” there this summer. 

She said: “30 years ago my mother had the misfortune of having to tell a neighbour her son had been killed in a road traffic accident on this stretch of road and we are talking about it today, 30 years on. People’s lives have been changed for ever, we should not be here all these years later still discussing safety on this junction.” 

The Conservative councillor said she accepted there are limits on what can be done: “We will never make this 100 per cent safe as we can’t fully influence driver behaviour but we can make changes and make it safer than it is.” 

Conservative Maureen Powell, who represents Pen y Fal, said before she retired she would drive the route three times a week “and it always seemed dangerous” and suggested traffic lights “would at least slow drivers down”. 

Cllr Maby, who confirmed she would write to the government said she was “really shocked” to hear there had been concerns stretching back 30 years. 

The council will consult on the proposal to prevent the right turn in January.