Bypass (From Barry And District News)

Bypass

ON behalf of Dinas Powys Road Safety Group we wish to add comments to recent letters and articles on a bypass for Dinas Powys.

From the replies to our correspondence, we can report that although there is no Transport Grant available for new roads now, a bypass is not ruled out. It is still envisaged by the Vale Council and supported by MP John Smith and AM Jane Hutt.

New road building has not been on the national agenda for many years but traffic congestion is forcing a re-think and the Welsh Assembly government has now granted money to the Vale Council to proceed with plans for improved airport access.

The priority for this route over a bypass for Dinas Powys (now called the Barry Waterfront to Cardiff Bay Link Road) is historic and is recorded in the Unitary Development Plan for the Vale, valid until 2011.

Instead of a relief road, as a result of campaigning, we have had road safety measures along the Cardiff Road and currently in The Square and should be able to benefit from public transport alternatives as seen in the reopening in 2004 of a rail service for passengers through the Vale. Schemes to enhance bus travel could follow but will the public cut car travel?

Ideally, no one wants to see a new road through the countryside but the projected increase in traffic suggests that a bypass should be brought forward and raised to trunk status to alleviate more quickly the pressure on Dinas Powys and environs.

Jean Roderick (chair)

Gale Smith (vice chair)

Dinas Powys Road Safety Group