Editor

Having lived in both towns and country villages, I have found that the pros and cons of both balance out reasonably well, that is except for the issue of road safety.

Here in Dôl-y-bont, despite numerous attempts to have the speed limit reduced for the village from 60mph to the 20mph desired by villagers, nothing has been done.

The road in Dôl-y-bont narrows from where the tarmac road first abuts the wall of a property at one end, and is about 300mm from the last domestic property that abuts the road tarmac surface at the other. The distance between these two points is 233 metres and is lined by houses on both sides. Between these points the road width is an average of about 4.5 metres (varying from 3.7 metres to just over 5 metres).

Along this 233-metre length of road, in the village housing area, there are three major bends and a humpback bridge which is on one of the bends and rises to nearly 3 metres from the start of the slope to its crown.

The local county councillor is Cllr Quant. In over a decade he has failed to identify the need for and introduce a safe speed limit for Dôl-y-bont despite constant requests from the community council.

A comparative length of road in Aberystwyth is Portland Street which starts from Queen’s Square to Baker Street and is 240 metres long. In Portland Street pedestrians (unless they are visually impaired) can see the whole length of Portland Street and partially into Eastgate Street from any point on the pavement.

The pavement and adjacent car parking spaces together are about 4.5 metres wide (wider than most of the road between the houses in Dôl-y-bont) and the road between the car parking areas is just over 5 metres.

The speed limit in Portland Street has been reduced from 30mph to 20mph (20mph being recognised as the speed that drivers should not exceed where pedestrians are likely to be walking).

Like pedestrians, drivers in Portland Street have a good visual length of a clear road in front of them. This is not the case in Dôl-y-bont where the increasing number of hikers, local and other pedestrians who have no footpath are confronted by vehicles whose drivers are able to drive as fast as they think that they are able through the village and legally up to 60mph.

Cllr Quant, lives less than two miles from the whole length of the road in Dôl-y-bont but has never, in over a decade, seen the necessity for imposing a safe speed limit for the residents, pedestrians, hikers and cyclists.

Is it not time for the councillors concerned with the highways, pedestrian welfare and safety and community safety to give consideration to those who live, work and walk through our villages as well as the centres of our towns.

Phil Turner-Wright Bryndderwen Farm Dôl-y-bont

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